A Single Snowflake
by Calamitynexus
Summary: An attack throws Link's simple life into a path of chaos. Can he truly save a world that seems to be out to get him? Warnings: Violence, language, and implications of sexual themes and violence.Its my first story. Part 1
1. Chapter 1

This is my first story. I have no idea how long it will be, though I do have a plan on how it will go. Please be gentle with me. I would really appreciate reviews, especially on technical issues.

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Legend of Zelda.

***

I could hear the silence whispering to me. Most days I would just ignore it, but was it just my imagination or was it growing louder… Well, it could be either. Talen insisted the sounds were just in my head, or that they were a byproduct of my heritage.

I'm Hylian you see. Probably even a full blooded one. I have blond hair, which Mari insists is actually "golden." I have fairly pale skin and yes, I do spend quite a bit of time outside thank you very much! I also have blue eyes. Mari likes to go on about how they remind her of liquid pools. She teases me that she can see fish swimming around in them. Talen describes Mari as being a wee bit eccentric. It's the polite way of saying insane I guess. He and Mari are intimate, so being polite pays off. That and she darns his socks. Never anger the woman in charge of your laundry. It is not a pretty sight and you will lose.

But Mari, despite all her "eccentricities" never teases me about my ears. They are the biggest give away about my heritage, being long and pointy, and all. And I am kinda sensitive about them. It's not easy being the only kid on the block; scratch that, the only kid in the entire _city_ with pointy ears. Though they are functional at least. I could hear what everyone was calling me no matter how quietly they whispered. And boy, did they whisper.

Talen's a human you see. He's my Dad. He's my Dad in every way that matters anyway. So I guess Mari is like a Mom, or at least a crazy Aunt to me. Talen used to be a knight for Queen Ambi and her mother, before she died. He quit so he could go see the world. When he came back to the city he was carrying me. Apparently it caused quit a scandal. There's a little tension between Hyrule and Labrynna. Something political happened and everyone was political about it which means no one got over it and it is now civic duty to make everyone who falls into the "them" category as uncomfortable as possible. Procreating with the enemy apparently doesn't count. Not that Talen did, mind you. Well, I'm not his anyway. Not like that. … This is really awkward…anyway…

So vicious rumors floated through the city like algae on a pollute pond. And, like algae, they soon strangled themselves and died off. But as I got older a few of them resurfaced. My favorite involves a witch with a beard made from all the hair that bald men have lost. It's actually quit creative. But most of them weren't. They were mostly just nasty filth. So the townsfolk whispered nasty filth late at night when they were home alone. Which meant that their children bellowed it at noon as loud as they could.

As you may have inferred, I did not exactly have a lot of friends. For certain I had none that were of my own age. Talen's friends were my friends. They often dropped by the bar Talen started up. He had quite the fortune, which undoubtedly was part of the reason rumor turned so vicious. So he bought a building, gave it a good ol' spit shine and viola, the Midnight Angel was founded. It was soon the favorite haunt of all his old friends, which meant that it was soon the favorite haunt of all the Queen's men. Talen even gives out free drinks if someone brings him interesting enough news. Apparently he used to do the same when someone was willing to watch me.

Poor Talen. He was definitely not prepared to have kids. He is not exactly the parenting type. He always wanted to be a knight, even as a little kid, so he got a job under Queen Junna and worked. He was probably fifteen when he was hired. He was thirty-two when he found me. I doubt he had even held a baby before that, never mind being saddled with the responsibility of raising one. I was around one when he found me.

My official unofficial birthday, named courtesy of Mari, falls on the day the bar was established. I think Talen might have named it after my Mom, but I never asked him about it. He'll tell me when he thinks I'm ready. The only connection I have with her is a necklace Talen said she had with her. It's actually rather expensive, so I don't tend wear it. Instead it is in a pouch I keep tucked in my hat. I always wear my hat. It hides my ears. But the necklace, as best I can tell (believe it or not, I'm actually fairly talented at that sort of thing) it seems to be a ruby triangle set upon a sapphire triangle and an emerald triangle, with only the corners touching, just like the Triforce. Talen told me it probably uses magic to hold the pieces together. Otherwise the stones would sit is a frame of some sort. It also sits on a gold chain. I've never gotten it appraised. As valuable as it is, I would still die before I sold it.

Though I might go mad before I do that. The whispering is driving me mental. I've been hearing it for a few weeks. A few weeks of silent hisses and scrapes. I told Talen about it a few times, but he either laughs or checks me for a fever. I like Mari, but if I told her she'd probably tell me it's my sadness escaping out my ears. And everyone else in town would as soon as burn me as a witch as listen to any problem I could have, and if I told them this they probably would. Burning to death is low on my to do list.

So I stayed quiet, am staying quiet. Most times it just fades to the background. But tonight it just won't go away. I sigh, noting how my noise doesn't even dent the din I hear coming from the darkness. Taking a deep breath I turn to head inside. It was my night to take out the slops and I tend to dawdle. I like to look at the stars and think. Talen's used to it by now. If the customers left when told, he's probably already in bed.

I lean my head against the door, feeling the smooth mahogany under my brow and the prickly rope of the slop bucket in my hand, willing silence to my mind or the shadows. I really am starting to not care if I'm crazy. I just want silence. So I concentrate on not hearing, just feeling. The wind is slight and warm. The ground is a little soft, it rain a few hours ago. I can even feel my shirt hanging off me. I can feel everything, including the fingers that have just wrapped themselves around my neck.


	2. Chapter 2

As I am pulled backwards my mind races. It yells at me for not hearing whoever is behind me. It also chides me for dropping the slop bucket. Part of it also runs through a list of possible suspects, guessing who is trying to throttle the life out of me. You know what? Screw guessing.

I have both my hands wrapped around my assailants, my fingers working to try and create a little breathing room. It's pretty ineffective. So I swing my head back. A loud crack and a soft curse make me think that that was a much better plan. Next time it will definitely be plan A.

I stumble forward, slightly dizzy and gasping. I fumble with my dagger. I always keep one in my belt. You will always need a knife if you don't have one. Usually _not_ to stab people, but hey, needs must. It comes free after about my third solid breath. Being able to think probably helped. I turn and slash, just trying to maintain distance between my attacker and myself. Steel clashes on steel and my knife skitters into the darkness. Well… damn…

A hand grabs my throat (again) and I am shoved backwards. I go flying through the door and spare a few seconds to be grateful that it wasn't latched. That would have hurt. Not that landing on a wooden barrel was comfortable. In fact that hurt too, despite having broke under my weight. Stupid kegs. I groan and try to blink away the color spots that now obscure my vision.

I hear my opponent step on to the floor. It's wooden so it creaks. I always hated how creaky the storeroom floor was. Now I am depending on it to help save my life.

I stagger to the left, limping a little (a lot), and listening hard. Sure enough the creaks slowly begin to follow me, probably a little wary from that knife slice. I grab onto a shelf on the wall and slide down, making a bit of a show of gasping and blinking, though I still can't see well. My hands flit along the shelves, silently searching. The squeaking grows closer fast. I feel a hand on my shoulder. It pulls, spinning me around. I use my momentum to swing the crowbar we keep, catching the guy in the neck. I can tell because he gasps instead of swears. Or screams, but I personally think he's more of a cusser.

I swing again. This time I am able to aim. My eyes are clearer and have adjusted to the light of the storeroom. I catch the guy in the chest and stand as he drops. He's well armed, holding a nasty looking sword in his left hand. He must have switched so he could grab me. He's also wearing a nasty looking dagger and a nasty looking bow. Weapons people want to stick in me are often nasty looking. I think it has something to do with perspective and not the weapons themselves.

But I was not going to ask him about it. I dash across the floor but feel a tug on my ankle. Apparently he is also wearing nasty looking chain mail under his nasty looking brown cloak. What a nasty bastard!

I see his hand on my legs as I fall. Then it's back to seeing stars. By the Goddesses my head hurts… For some reason that feels like a low priority alert. I cannot really remember what it is I'm doing. Then I feel Nasty Looking's boot slam into my side. Besides cracking a rib the blow cleared my head a bit. I started fumbling for the crowbar. I can see it but it looks funny. Everything is a tad red. Including his boot as he smashes it down on my wrist. I know I scream but I don't really remember screaming.

In fact, I don't remember much of the next few seconds. My awareness resurfaces when I am halfway into the hallway that connects the storage space to the bar room. I am still on my back and I hurt everywhere. Where's Nasty Looking?

Oh. He's standing in the doorway. With a sword. Not good. Well, the sword is good, just not the fact that he's holding it and looking menacingly at me. In fact, the sword looks great. Much better than he does. Through the red I can see a large discoloration on his face. I'd lay rupees on it being a broken nose. At least I gave him a souvenir for his troubles.

He bends down real close to my face. I would love to say that I have some master plan to throw him over my head using my legs, but truth is I'm pretty messed up. So I just lie here as he whispers, "I am going to enjoy this, boy." I have a sneaking suspicion I'm not. He's got a funny accent. His words are chopped, like he bites them instead of finishes them.

Funny, how when you are about to die your mind scatters. I can see him pulling back and raising the sword. I _know_ that this is going to hurt. But all I can think about right now is Mari. Talen will probably have her wipe this up. Man, Talen would be ashamed. I didn't really put up much of a fight.

This is what is going through my head as I feel the pressure on my chest. I expected it to burn like my fingers when you catch them on a knife, except bigger. But this is just pressure. If I hadn't just endured a good booting this probably wouldn't hurt at all. But it is making it hard to breath.

Then it starts to squirm. Now I know that that is wrong. I blink as I realize that Nasty Looking's face is buried in my chest. Then it isn't. A large familiar hand hauls him off me, tossing him to the side.

Nasty Looking rolls and manages to make it to his feet. He holds a crouch and pulls out his dagger. The thing is all curvy and comes to a wicked looking tip. It looks pretty like it would be pretty painful.

Talen steps over me, careful not to nudge me with his feet. I can see a flash in the night. Oh thank Din! He's got the battle hammer. That means he' pissed. Not angry, not upset. Pissed. I hope it's not at me.

Nasty Looking swipes with that knife. Talen blocks with the hammer, the knife slamming into its handle. Talen takes a few steps forward, pushing Nasty back. Nasty retreats pretty quickly. He backs down the hall a bit then drops back into that crouch. I can't really see much more than that. Talen's got a pretty wide back. I can hear the knife as it swishes again, connecting either with air or that hammer. But Nasty is pretty fast. Talen grunts a few times and Nasty Looking curses (I told you he was a cusser). They seem to be pretty evenly matched. Then Nasty scores a hit in Talen's arm. It's pretty bad. I hear, I see the blood dripping on the floor. That hammer is heavy. This is not good, not good.

I drag my eyes away and start to focus on my situation, which is also not good. By the Goddesses I hurt. But if I can at least get out of the hall then Talen won't have to worry about tripping over me. So I go slow. I straighten my legs through the door. That wasn't too bad. Then I try to prop my self up with my hand.

Bad idea. Very bad idea. Stupid Link! I roll onto my back, cradling my hand. I think I whimper a bit.

Then I hear this wet crunching sound. I shut my eyes. Oh Goddesses I killed Talen! He would have been distracted. Stupid stupid stupid Link. Nayru hates me! I hear the body slump to the floor along with the hammer. Then slow boot prints march towards me. I keep my eyes shut. I don't want to see the mess on the floor. I also don't want Nasty Looking to be the image I carry to the afterlife. The boots stop real close to me. I wait for them to introduce themselves to my face.

Instead I feel a hand brush my hairline. "Link?" I open my eyes. It's Talen. Thankyouthankyouthankyou. He looks upset. Well, he was stabbed. I'd be pretty upset if I didn't hurt so much.

"Link!" That was more of a shout than a whisper. I try to tell him something, anything that would make him stop yelling. But I can't really think of anything to say. I'm pretty tired. And I smell like ale. If Talen keeps touching me he's going to smell too. I want to warn him but I feel tired. So tired.

"**LINK!"**


	3. Chapter 3

I am not a dreamer. I don't really think about the future. I guess that's what comes with not really having a past. I do have a past, it's not like I was born yesterday or anything. It's just that I don't have roots.

I suppose I could have become fixated on those roots, dreaming about who my parents are, trying to imagine faces and voices of the people responsible for my existence, but I was never really into that. I'm here, they're not, end of story.

So I don't really have a goal in life. And it's not exactly like the world is my oyster. I can't really do much here. I really do thing that the neighbors like to fantasize about my dying horrifically. So I could just work at the bar for the rest of my life, or I could go travel, I guess. But I'm not really looking for anything, so I don't really see much point.

I'm not a dreamer.

But that's what makes this weird. I know that I'm dreaming. It's the only explanation for what's happening. First off, I am floating in an ocean of ale. As someone who has worked in a bar for most of my life I can assure you that ale does not exist in oceans, no matter how much we may wish that it did.

The second thing is that I'm made of light. A thick, heavy light, one that has the consistency of syrup. Now I know light is, well, light. Hence the name. But I am for certain heavy and made of light.

I'm floating in this ocean of ale on my back. All I can here is a whisper of sound. It's soft and gentle. I listen harder. It sounds… familiar, almost like a song. I want to hum along with it but the tune escapes me.

A ball of light appears in the sky. It just winks itself into existence. And with it comes a one crystal clear note. Then another light appears. This one is red instead of green. It also hums. Then another one, then another one. There are seven in all. I smile a bit. I don't really know why. I guess I just like the lights.

But something's wrong. They grow quiet. The ocean changes. Its not ale. It smells odd, coppery almost. Like blood. I want to make the lights brighter. I go to call to them, to ask them how to help them glow. Claws and ice wrap around my legs and pull me under. I twist and yell, swearing and screaming. The claws crawl up my body, slowly and softly. The tips just barely press into me skin. I swing at them, trying to dislodge them, but I hit nothing. I can't breathe. I don't want to die. They pin my shoulders. I start screaming as loud as I can.

"Hold him still!"

Something soft is shoved into my mouth. It tastes like old boot. I want to spit it out but I can't. My teeth seem to have lodged themselves into it. I think it has something to do with pain. Everywhere hurts.

"You have him?" I _know_ I know that voice… I should be able to place it. I try to look around but everything's a bit blurred around the edges. A huge bulk is pinning my shoulders. I think another one might I have my feet. I am not really sure if they are helping me or trying to hurt me.

Then my arm explodes.

Molten pain zigs up my arm and into the rest of my body. It hurts so bad I can't scream. My arm is pulsing with fire and lightening. I try to fight, to get away, but I'm so weak. It hurts so bad. I can feel the heat from tears running down the sides of my face.

A voice starts insisting that it will be okay. If this is what leads to okay I'd hate to find out what his definition of not okay is. I try to jerk away but my torso fills with agony. I scream through the leather, biting so hard I'm sure it will snap in half.

"By Din I said hold him!" I know that voice well enough to know it should not be hurting me. But it was. It mutters angrily. The leather is torn out of my mouth. I try to struggle but a firm hand grabs my jaw. A liquid is poured into my mouth. It tastes weird. Sweet like flowers yet bitter like medicine. I sputter. I think most of the liquid runs down my face instead of my throat. More is poured and my nose is pinched. I swallow, desperate for air.

The hands let go of me. I'm drifting, fading. Maybe I'm dying. Maybe I'm heading back to that dream. I don't really know. I don't really care. I don't fight, hoping I'll be carried to somewhere where I won't hurt.

***

"So you are finally awake." It's more of a statement than a question.

I carefully turn my head. The room spins anyway. I shut my eyes, hoping to regain some sense of stillness.

"Now no falling asleep just yet. It is imperative that you remain conscious until my business here is concluded." I knew I knew that voice. I open my eyes to look at Dr. Lohan. He looks, well, the same as always I guess. He may have a few more worry lines, which are most likely my fault.

He strides over to me, leaving his little bag of tricks on the table. He starts doing what doctors do. Normally I'd try to pay attention and learn as much as I could, but normally my stomach hasn't decided it wants to explore the rest of the world without me. So I just lay still as his hands dance over me, touching this and poking that. Every once and a while he noise, one of those sounds adults use when they are pretending they understand. You know, "hmmms" and "ahs." Those little noises.

I actually prefer it when Dr. Lohan speaks. He has a nice voice. It's rich and warm. So are his eyes. If mine are fish filled pools his are melted chocolate. When he's frustrated they even swirl. No seriously, its true.

Well, he finally finishes doing the doctor thing and gives a little nod, like alls right with the world. He then ignores my body and looks me in the eyes. "It looks as though you will survive." Um, yay? That's a really unnerving way to start a conversation. "You suffered a lesion along your scalp which required several stitches and broke several ribs and cracked a few more, as well as having sprained your shoulder and ankle. Your right wrist is broken. Luckily you are left handed, so that should not pose too much of an issue for you. You also incurred an impressive concussion, which is why you may be experiencing some dizziness and nausea. You have been unconscious for three days. Now for the bad news." That was the good news? Crap. "You were administered a healing potion, but it was not soon enough to have an optimal effect nor was it of the highest potency. Therefore you will need to have bed rest for at least a month, though I would prefer to keep you immobile for another fortnight after that."

Considering everything that wasn't actually bad news. I doubt I could leave this bed right now even if I wanted. But there are a few things I need to know. "Talen?" My voice escapes as a creaky whisper. I sound like the rusty hinges on an old chest.

Dr. Lohan clucks his tongue. "Do not worry. He is well. His wound had been treated. I would have him come in here, but unfortunately I slipped him a sleeping draught, which will not wear off for at least another three hours. It was to treat his sleep deprivation, you see. But I will most assuredly inform him that you were awake." Dr. Lohan is a wee bit scary. I like the guy, but he can take his job a little to seriously.

Dr. Lohan moves back to the table, talking as he pours powders and liquids into a small cup. "Now I need you to drink this mixture. It contains something for the pain as well as some medicine designed to increase the rate of healing." He slowly starts to pour the concoction down my gullet. It tastes awful, sour with an aftertaste that winds you. I choke it down as best as I can. He smiles, satisfied with my performance.

"Excellent. Now I will see you again when you reawaken." I blink. He slipped me a sleeping draught? The sly dog. I open my mouth to protest, but it turns into a yawn. I still have questions. But I feel the darkness of a dreamless sleep closing in. I guess they can wait until morning.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer- Legend of Zelda does not belong to me.

**

I am going to kill Dr. Lohan. I'm going to kill him slowly with something dull and rusty. I am going to do it as soon as he _finally_ says I'm allowed to leave this bed.

I've been trapped in this room for two and a half weeks and it is driving me towards the edge of insanity. The healing potion they gave me was apparently pretty useless. Humans, especially doctors, have been avoiding using them for a long while now so the ones kicking around in Labrynna are old and impotent. The one they gave me helped clear up my concussion in record time and is supposed to allow my bones to heal as though they had never been broken. But apparently it only increases recovery time by a small margin. Leaving me stuck here.

It's not even my room. Which means that it is not filled with my things. Yes I have things in my room. No, I do not have a cow in my room.* That's just crazy. But I have books and I have a knife and some nice birch. I also have memories of there. I have ways of entertaining myself. Plus everything is within my reach. I wouldn't have to ring this stupid little bell every time I want something.

I got the bell after I "rolled" out of bed. It was a lame excuse that is code for "I tried to get up on my own." I wanted to be mobile. Instead I fell and re-injured my face, so the bruises which were that sickly yellow and pale green are once again back to black. So Dr. Lohan told me to ring the bell instead in order to avoid a repeat of such an episode. I told him everything was within reaching distance at my own home.

But no, Teddi _insisted_ we stay. He wouldn't _dream_ of sending me back to my room with my things. Don't get me wrong. I like Teddi. He taught me to read. His actual name is Sir Winston Openhiemer, but everyone calls him Teddi. He's a tactician and quite a few years younger than Talen. He's a nice guy. Which is the current problem. He's too nice to let me just leave.

Apparently it's too dangerous to go back to the Midnight Angel until more is discovered about Nasty Looking. There are three theories as to who he is, well, was. Talen's hammer introduced itself to his face and Nasty Looking really grew into his name. So one is that he was a thief. He needed some quick cash and decided that a bar was a good place to get some. Maybe he would kill me and then rifle around to see if I was carrying a wallet of the nights earnings, or perhaps check the place for a safe of some sort. We do keep a safe. It's in the back under a bed in Talen's room. We live behind the bar. The reason Talen actually made it my rescue was because he heard me smash into the ale barrel.

The second was that he was a spy. Maybe he was going to try to use me to get Talen to reveal all of Labrynna's secrets. That theory is a little weak. I am pretty sure that Nasty Looking was just trying to kill and it's not like Talen even works for the Queen anymore. If you want to know what he knows all you need to do is sit in the Midnight Angel for a night.

The third theory is that he was an assassin. Someone who holds a personal grudge towards Talen hired some guy to come knock him off. Or perhaps someone who disagrees with current policy wanted to send a message. Political stuff like that. It would explain why this guy was carrying so many weapons, but it would not explain how I'm still alive. Unless he was a really crappy assassin. Like so crappy that he couldn't kill someone who was distracted and had his back turned to him in the middle of night type crappy.

Personally I think he was probably a thief. Some guy far from home who ran out of rupees and decided to get some quick. Though he could have just sold his dagger. I don't know, this entire situation just seems fishy to me. But all of Talen's old buddies are twisting arms and bashing skulls together to find an answer. Talen actually just shut down the bar too. I think its to put more pressure on solving this. After all no one will slack off if the place they go to that is shut down.

But in the meantime I am trapped in this bed by order of Dr. Lohan, unable to at least be home until proper motive is discovered, with nothing to occupy my time. Even those shadowy whispers have gone. I really appreciate that a knock on the noggin cleared the voices from my head but right now I am so bored that even listening to that chatter would be entertaining.

"Knock knock." I turn to look at the doorway. Oh Thank Farore. Teddi is standing in it, his hands held behind his back. He looks like he's up to something.

I give him a proper scowl. "Dr. Lohan sent you to make sure I'm still in bed?"

At least he has the good graces to look properly embarrassed, his face going red all the way up to the black mop he fancies to be his hair. Teddi wears his hair shaggy. I think he think it makes him look younger. "Well, only a little. I also deducted that you would be pleased by something to occupy your time. A young man of sixteen does not do well in confinement."

So he came to visit. That's actually nice. Talen used to come every day but he managed to wrestle his way into the investigation so he isn't around as often. And I like Teddi. He's got this streak of youngster in him that occasionally shines through. I drop the scowl and smile. "I'd be happy for anything to distract me."

"I thought so," he nods like I've said something brilliant. Teddi is expressive like that. He crosses from the doorway and sits in the chair close to my bed, turning it so it faces me instead of out the window. "That is why I procured this for you."

I look down at his outstretched hands. In them is this ceramic oval. It has got a few holes in it and this short tube that juts out an inch or so. It takes me a few seconds to figure out what it is but when I do my eyes go wide. I stare at Teddi.

He blushes again. Ocarinas are pretty rare. They take a lot of patience to build and tune. They are also fairly expensive. "Well I picked this one up for your birthday. I know its pretty early but I received a good price for it and was just going to hold onto it until then. So just consider it and early coming of age present."

I gently lift the instrument with my left hand and the cast on my right to help balance the instrument. I stare for a few more seconds.

Teddi shifts beside me. "Do you like it?" He is looking pretty worried.

I grin at him. "I love it." Then I blow into the stem. The note that emerges is pure and sweet. I pull it away. It looks like Teddi has provided me with a cure for my boredom. Maybe I won't have to kill Dr. Lohan after all.

**

*Ocarina of Time reference for those who don't know.


	5. Chapter 5

I'm sitting by at the bar. The Midnight Angel is still closed to the general public, which is why the specific government crowd surrounds me. All of Talen's friends are here, crowding around the table. Teddi is sitting to my right, making sure no one jostles me. It has been just over three weeks since the attack and I'm still a little fragile. Though my hand is almost all better. Dr. Lohan says he'll remove the cast in two or three days. I think it's because he is getting sick of me playing just three notes on the ocarina.

Dr. Lohan is sitting to my left. He is also watching me like a hawk. If I show any signs of weakness I'm sure he'll have me bundled off and stuck in bed for another two weeks. Beside him is Sir Rolfus. Everyone calls him that. He is the prickly one in the group. I think he comes from a noble family so he resents that commoners can become knights, which was traditionally a post reserved for the Upper Class. The only reason he was invited is because, as a nobleman, it was his duty to head the investigation to protect the common folk (aka Talen and I). On the other side of Sir Roflus is Sir Don MacKenzi. We all call him Don. He is about 44 and has 5 kids ranging between the ages of 5 and 19. The nineteen year old is sitting by Don. He still works as a guard but I think he'll be promoted soon. We call him Junior. I am not sure of his actual name.

On the other side of the table sits Talen, Sir Markus O'toole, Sir Gunther Stein and Lady Ameil. Lady Ameil is awesome. She is Gunter's wife and can beat him at swords 4 out of 5 times. She would give me lessons when Talen was busy. I have some neat scars to show for it. Gunther is better at the bow anyway. He gives me target lessons when he has a shift off and Ameil doesn't. They don't have any kids and seem content with that, but they like playing at older siblings for me. I've even been out to their manor a few times. They live out in the country. There are almost as young as Teddi, who is the baby of the group at 36. Gunther is 39 and Ameil is a lady, which just means she won't tell anyone her age.

Mari is also at the table, sitting by Talen. She looks pretty rough. I think the whole incident has her pretty shaken. She was supposed to start to visit me once the bruises faded. I think Talen was worried about how she'd react if she saw me all black and blue. After I "rolled" out of bed she decided she could handle it no matter what I looked like. And she did. She actually handled it really well. She told me I looked like a skull child. They don't even have faces. Mari can be a little harsh at times. So she was my audience when I learned to play the ocarina.

Some body stands. "Okay everyone. Sit straight and pay attention. You all know why we're here, right?" Sir Rolfus is such a pompous ass. Beside me Teddi echoes my opinion under his breath. I choke back a snicker, which makes my ribs twinge.

Sir Rolfus takes the silence at the table to be an affirmative, instead of disapproval at how much a dick he is. "Right-oh. Concerning the attack on this establishment several disturbing leads have been uncovered. Sir O'toole will explain in further depth."

O'toole doesn't bother with the ceremony, he just launches in. "At first we believed this to be just a random act of violence, a botched robbery of some sort by a fucking dunderhead. Now we believe it was a different type of robbery botched by a fucking dunderhead." He pauses, probably for dramatic emphasis. "We believe the man may have been a Slaver." I feel my insides go cold. That's actually pretty scary stuff. Slavery is illegal everywhere but Holodrum and Ikana. Even the Gerudos don't hold with it. And Ikana doesn't really practice slavery. They have this weird system where a war prisoner must work for so much time until they are released. It's a good detterant. No one goes to war with Ikana anymore. Plus all the time the people there save on labour they get to spend on swordplay.

But Holodrum… I feel a shudder pass through me.

"Are you positive? What evidence do you have to support such claims? If it is true then Holodrum is in violation of treaty." Lady Ameil leans forwards on her hands, her brows knitting with concern. The treaty, passed in Queen Junna's time pretty much says as long as Holodrum does not buy, steal, or sell Labrynna citizens Labrynna won't join up with any other country to wipe Holodrum off the map.

Don pipes up. "We gave the body a good look over. The weapons as well as the cloak were all of Holodrum make. Link told us the guy had an accent." I nod, sticking by my story. "Plus witnesses were able to inform us that the attacker was a man staying at an inn a few blocks from here. Some people in town saw him meeting up with shady characters on the edge of town, including on the night of the attack."

"We explored the area and found wagon ruts in what looked to be a make shift campsite. With the amount of rain we have been getting they had to be recent or all signs of life would have been washed away." O'toole' s voice drops a few notches. "And two weeks after the attack a report from Liho came in. They had two kids get snatched." Oh crap. Oh shit. Oh dear. Liho is about a week and a half's ride from here. If you had a wagon it would be only a few days longer. "The children are reported as being blonde. One was a twelve year old girl and the other was a fifteen year old boy. A few other areas had reported missing children earlier, but it was put off as being due to animal attacks and bad weather. We are re-examining all cases now."

Talen lets out a long whistle, which pretty much sums up how we all feel right now. If Holodrum slavers were bold enough to hit Labrynna's capital city there was no way Queen Ambi would stand for it. It could easily be the start of another war. If word of this leaked out relations between Hylians and humans, at least those not from Holodrum, would improve for at least a few weeks. But on the on the other hand there would be war. Wars are expensive and people get killed.

Personally I'm still a little freaked out that I was almost murdered by a slaver. I must have pissed one the goddesses off because that is nasty karma. But it also explains why I was stuck at Teddi's. I'm really glad I didn't complain too loudly. Note to self, buy Teddi and Dr. Lohan something shiny.

"So what do we do?" Talen leans back in his chair, breaking the silence.

"You do nothing," Sir Roflus is such an ass. "The knights will report this to the Queen, but we must keep this from going public until she makes a decision. It is imperative that her decision is not influenced by public backlash, and the public will be less likely to panic if a plan is in place to deal with this by the time they find out."

"Talen should be involved. It was his boy and his bar," points out Gunther.

Beside me Teddi shakes his head. "He needs to minimally involved. He is retired and must maintain that image. If we act on this with Talen being too involved we will be accused of favortism. Plus if the bar stays closed the locals are going to find out something is up. Until now we've used Link's health as an excuse, but he is almost healed. If Talen stays but doesn't reopen someone is going to figure something out."

Someone starts muttering about how Teddi is being overly cautious. It's probably Talen. I don't really care. I just don't want to be here anymore. I don't want to listen to a bunch of grown ups argue like children. I just want to go somewhere and appreciate the fact that Talen keeps a war hammer in his bedroom. But there isn't really much of an opening to leave.

Then inspiration hits me.

I slowly slump to my left, leaning on Dr. Lohan. I'm sure he's probably doing his Dr. Frown face but I can't see at this angle. I feel him turn a bit. Teddi claps a hand on my elbow and starts helping me get up. I lean into him. Then I'm shifted back to Dr. Lohan. We head to the door.

As soon as we're down the street and out of window sight I straighten up. Dr. Lohan stares at me critically. I just shrug. "Did you really want to listen to that?"

He chuckles. "Fair enough. But we are going straight to Teddi's."

I shrug again. I'm perfectly fine with that.


	6. Chapter 6

"Bring me another one!" Jan Smarkle was recently dumped. He deserved it from the sounds of it. According to gossip he was fooling around with both Tana Fizburt and Lizza Emerson. Which means he was dumped twice. I suppose I should be all "poor guy", but I personally think it is amusing. "I want it NOW!" Besides, Jan is an ass.

I make my way to the counter, picking up stray glasses as I go. It's been a month and a half since the incident, three weeks since the meeting, two weeks since I've been allowed to manage my own health and three days since I started working again. Which means I also get to sleep in my own room again. Teddi mentioned something about me being able to be under "my own recognisance," whatever that means. Talen reopened the bar a few days after he and the guys (and Ameil) met here. Teddi also won the argument. I'm not really surprised. He is a tactician. So Talen gets updates and he will have to meet with the Queen eventually, but he is no longer actively involved in the investigation.

I think I figured out what I was going to get Dr. Lohan and Teddi as thanks. I was going to carve them something. I am thinking a fox for Teddi. He'd get a kick out of that. Dr. Lohan was much harder to figure out. I am playing with the idea of an owl raising an eyebrow, but I am not sure if Dr. Lohan would appreciate the humor. I think he would, but I want to be sure, so I plan on asking Talen.

I elbow my way up to the bar and slip around behind, emptying my tray. It's pretty busy tonight but that's mostly due to Jan. He brought his lackeys and they are drinking up a storm. I know a few of them aren't going to make it to work tomorrow. Business has been up though. I think the regulars are buying more to show how much they missed us. Or how much they missed having a fair priced establishment in walking distance where the alcohol doesn't taste like urine. Either or.

I take a round of drinks back to Jan and his table setting Jan's in front of him last. "Fucking Hylian," he whispers it quietly, but as a "fucking Hylian" I still hear him. I wish I had spat in his drink.

As I turn to go a hand snatches my elbow and spins me until I'm face to face with its owner. Shit. It's Lloyd. Out of everyone I know Lloyd is my least favorite. Like I might like Nasty Looking more than I like Lloyd. And that's when he's sober. He pulls a little and I take a step forward. His breath is absolutely rancid.

"Hey-ya Link." His words are a bit slurred and he spits as he speak. Damn, now I need to go burn my face off.

"Let go Lloyd," I hiss between clenched teeth. I really do not want to have to be dealing with this. But Talen's preoccupied. I saw O'toole at the counter which means Talen is distracted by important conversation, or at least interesting gossip.

He squeezes a little tighter. Fuck. "Oh come on Link. I'm just being neighborly," he rolls the word so it comes out "nay-bor-rolly." He smiles like he's telling the world's biggest joke. "I just wanted to make sure that my good ol' buddy Linkss'okay." Buddy my hat. The last time I saw him he tried to run me over with his horse. "I heard you'd been beat up real bad."

I try to take back my arm but I'm at the wrong angle to get it free. So instead I retort, "I'm fine. Now let go." His grip is beginning to hurt.

"Now don't be so skittish Link. I just want to be sure." He leans in a bit closer then whispers loud enough for his audience to catch what he's saying. " I hear that some guy mistook you for a girl and was gonna have his way with you." The only reason Lloyd is still on his feet is because of Talen. Every time I fight back it gets Talen in trouble with the local community. That's the last thing we need right now. I've managed to sit silent for this for years. I can handle another even of Lloyd's abuse.

Lloyd seems unsatisfied with my lack of response. He pushes onward. "Need me to hold you while you cry? You can show me all the places he touched you." My dagger is in my belt. That's temptingly close.

He grins lewdly. "I could make you feel real nice. And that's the closest a little pointy eared fuck like you would ever come to being needed." He goes flying as a fist slams into his face, landing on Jan's table and sending the drinks flying. I stand in there in shock, watching dumbly as he struggles to get up. I am pretty sure he spits out a tooth or two.

My, well, as lame as it is, my hero grabs Lloyd by the collar and hauls him to the door. The entire bar watches in silence. "It is inappropriate to use language like that in a public establishment, especially in the presence of a lady." I hope he is not referring to me. My hair is _not_ that long. "It is in your best interest to go home a sober up."

And with that this guy just tosses Lloyd out of the building. I admit I'm pretty impressed, not to mention satisfied. I've wanted to do that for years. The guy strides back to what must have been his table. He's there with a few other people. I think one of them is a woman. He waves me over.

I pull myself out of my shock, leaving Jan and his group to sort the mess out themselves. I really have no idea what to say. I'm still trying to believe this happened. Mr. Hero saves me the trouble.

"We need a pitcher of beer and four cups."

I nod mutely and scurry to the bar. As I get there Talen gives me a look. I give a little shrug and ramble off an explanation while I get my newest table's order together. "Lloyd said something that offended a customer. Said customer removed Lloyd from the premises." It's true enough. If Talen wants the full story he can ask someone else.

"Is that the order for 'said customer'?" I nod again. "Good. Hand it over." Maybe I should have given him the full story. I hand over the order. Tonight looked like it was just going to get worse. Talen hates it when people get rowdy in his bar and he seems to take offense at other people deciding upon his customer base. I stay in the main bar as Talen leaves.

"Lloyd again huh. That kid is as useful as tits on a boar. When I was his age-" O'toole shakes his head. I'm only half paying attention to him. Talen didn't dump the beer on anyone's head yet, so that's a good sign. He gives me a hard stare and I'm suddenly really interested in what O'toole is saying. "-which just goes to show that firm discipline is needed. It's a shame the way people are allowed to carry on today."

"Discipline, right." I nod enthusiastically. "Kids these days." I laugh a little nervously and O'toole gives me an odd look. I know I'm acting a little strange. Talen is heading back this way. With the way my luck has been it's to chew on me for getting close enough to Lloyd to let him grab me.

Talen hands my tray back to me gruffly. "Your tables need minding." I nod, watching closely for some sign of his mood. He's a wall. Huh. I head off to look for some empty glasses.

"Link." Oh crap here it comes. "Mind the new table. And whatever they get is on the house." I know I'm staring now. Talen is still a wall. "Get going." I do. Wow. It's been a weird night.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N-Hey everyone. Thank you so much for all the support. It means a lot to me. I know the story is a little slow but the plot is going to pick up, a little bit anyway, real soon.

**

The bar empties out pretty early tonight. I can't say I'm really surprised. Mr. Hero and team put a bit of a scare into Jan's group. Lloyd acts as their tough guy representative and without him I think they feel rather uncomfortable. I know I would have a hard time sitting beside someone who just threw the toughest guy I know through a door with relatively little effort. They can go pester some other bar in town. Lynna has plenty enough.

I go to clean up the mess Jan and his thugs left. They didn't bother picking up anything that fell. Thank Nayru Talen doesn't believe in clay work cups. The wood ones we use are sturdy and show no damage from their recent brush with Lloyd. Few things can actually say that. Even my arm is feeling the effects of my encounter as brief as it was. I am fairly certain I have a nice bruise there, but I'll check right before I go to bed.

After that there really isn't much for me to do. I sit behind the bar pretending to listen and care about Talen and one of the regulars talk about the weather and the crops. Mr. Hero waves me over. I walk over to see if they need another pitcher. They've been here for a few hours and have only gone through two, and most of that ended up in people they waved over and chatted up. Talen picked a good table to serve free.

"Can I help you sir?" First rule of service: always be polite, especially to people who have saved your hide.

"I was wondering if you could help us. We're travelers and we'd like to know more about the area. We aren't sure how long we'll be staying here for so we feel it's important for us to get to know the area." He flashes me a smile that has probably broken more than a few hearts. I don't know why he's flashing it at me though.

I do owe him. I shrug. "What do you want to know?"

He frowns and waves. "Pull up a seat. It's not like there is anyone else here for you to mind. And we want to know everything."

He's being pretty chummy. I look to Talen. He's still chatting up the fogy at the bar about farmer things and O'toole left to relieve himself so he will back any minute. If Talen needs he'll wave. I move to the empty chair at the table, which just happens to be located in between Mr. Hero and the female of the group. "Alright. So where do you want me to start?"

He laughs. "How about with your name?" He grins.

I find myself grinning back. I think he's one of those people who just radiate good humor like a corpse radiates disease. "I'm Link."

He looks a little startled but hides it well. The only reason I caught it was because I work in a bar. When you deal with people for long enough you pick up on these things. Maybe he really had thought I was a girl. I just thought he was talking about the women sitting next to me. That would explain that smile he shot me. Was he _trying_ to seduce me? And I'm not that pretty! Fuck! Some days I think I'm cursed.

"Link, eh? I'm Drayfus. To your other side is Iya, then those two across the table are Pete and Gordo." Pete and Gordo wave in unison. Twins. Identical twins. That's pretty rare. Iya just nods.

The group is dressed pretty much the same. They are all wearing leather caps that mostly cover their ears and matching brown tunics. I guess they are here on professional business. Maybe they're messengers for some of the bigger companies here. Gordo and Pete both have curly strawberry blonde hair, the wisps just visible under their hats. They have light blue eyes, a few shades lighter than the sky on a clear afternoon. Iya and Drayfus both have blond hair and blue eyes. Hers is platinum blonde whereas his is more of wheat blond. Drayfus has blue eyes that border on grey. Iya is watching me with hazel eyes. The rims are green but the insides are brown. It's a neat effect. The entire party all have similar features, more racial than anything else. If I had to use one term to describe them it would probably be pointy.

Drayfus keeps his easy grin. "Who was that guy and what crawled up his ass and died?"

Well, whomever Drayfus is he is certainly a good judge of people, except where gender was concerned. I lift my shoulders. "That was Lloyd, the local neighborhood bully. Everywhere has one."

"Uh-huh." He doesn't sound convinced. "So what's his beef with you?"

I saw this coming. "It's complicated and a long story that starts with a game of tag over a decade a go." I don't want to estrange the group by revealing my origins just yet. I'm wearing my hat so I can pass for human right now. Besides, I've used that answer before. Its half true anyway and vague enough that the story attached sounds like it would be boring in its retelling. "Thanks for your help." I have been meaning to say that all night.

"Think nothing of it." He waves his hand dismissively. Okay, it's kind of freaking me out that no one else has said anything yet.

No sooner has the thought crossed my mind then Iya stands up, and speaks coolly, "We should be going back to the inn. We will see you when you get back Drayfus. Be safe. Link." Wow. She makes the Snow Peaks region look _warm_. She nods at me once again. Pete and Gordo stand up, nod to me and turn to leave in perfect unison. It's pretty fascinating.

Then Drayfus is at me again, asking about what you can buy here and what the weather tends to be like. I release some tension I didn't even know I had. Drayfus is only a few years older than me by the looks of things and I relish in the chance to talk to someone my own age. Plus he no longer seems interested in giving me his "I'm the Triforce's gift to women" smile. That's good. For a moment I was thinking I was going to have to take a knife to my face just to ugly myself up a bit.

The conversation jumps around for a while then Drayfus is looking out the window. "It's getting pretty late. Is it safe for me to stay out a little longer or am I liable to get jumped on the way home."

I shrug at him. "It's not too bad but things are a bit tense here. We had a thief a few weeks back do quite a bit of damage." His eyes widen. "No one was killed." Oh, wait. That's a lie. "I guess he was, but other than that no one died. Anyway, if you know how to use the sword you have hanging from your belt you'll do fine. Lynna is a rather sleepy city." The thief is our cover story, since we don't want to cause a panic and being tight lipped will do that as much as telling everyone what we really think I going on will. Besides, in a twisted sense it is true.

He relaxes a bit. "Ah, well then I should be safe enough." He gives his sword a good pat. "It's a traveler's best friend."

That reminds me. I have been meaning to ask this all night. "So where is it you are traveling from?" So much for all his relaxing. He looks like a cat that's been barked at.

Drayfus's eyes dart nervously around the bar. There is no one else here but Talen, O'toole and the guy who keeps going on about the crops. He nods and seems satisfied with that. He leans forward conspiringly. Okay, I'll bite. I lean in a bit too.

"Give me your arm." He whispers. I go to give it to him. After all, if he tries anything funny I've got a knife in my belt. I have started always wearing it instead of usually wearing it since my close encounter with the Nasty kind since I can't carry a sword until my birthday, which is still off by nearly two months. He shakes his head. "No no, your other arm." I move the one Lloyd banged up into Drayfus's hands. He immediately grips my elbow. Only my high pain tolerance, sharpened by years of catching rocks with my face and weeks of broken ribs prevent me from wincing as he grabs the bruise.

He starts muttering over it then looks around again. I admit I'm pretty curious to see where this is going. He lowers my arm so it's below the table then shuts his eyes and his mouth. He looks like he's concentrating pretty hard. I am just wondering if I should be doing anything when his hands start to glow very dimly and a warmth tingles in the joint.

I gawk as he releases my now pain free arm, leans in and asks wolfishly, "Answer your question?" By Din he's Hylian! They're all Hylian. And they are all either very brave, very stupid or very desperate to be here. No one will try to kill them or anything (I think) but no one will do business with them if they find out. But, wow! Hylians!

Drayfus stands and winks at me. "Well, night Link. Perhaps I'll see you again tomorrow night?"

A blink is the only response I can muster to his suggestion. He swaggers out of the bar like he owns the place and all I can do is gawk while my mind races.


	8. Chapter 8

It's been three days since I met Drayfus and according to Talen I've been absolutely useless. I guess he's right. My mind won't shut up long enough for me to get some sleep or focus on what it is I'm trying to do. Instead I'll get halfway through a task and suddenly it will hit me; I just met a Hylian in Labrynna. There are no Hylians in Labrynna, at least not this far from the border.

Okay, fair enough, there are no Hylians besides me this far from the border. Either way it's just a huge shock. I don't really know why he's here either. If anybody, and I mean _anybody_, finds out he's Hylian any prospect he and his friends had of trade here would become nothing more than smoke in the wind. Not to mention that all the local establishments would make use of their right to deny service. He took a huge risk revealing his identity like that. Especially like that. Drayfus is one cocky bastard.

Not that I am going to tell anyone. I didn't even tell Talen. He'd be obligated to pass it on and Sir Rolfus would find out and probably tell his mother who would tell everyone within a hundred-league radius. And to be absolutely frank I am hoping to run into Drayfus again. As much as it is a surprise to run into someone like him it is also undeniably an opportunity, plus it would totally cool if he could teach me that spell. I have no idea if I can actually learn magic or not but nothing ventured, nothing gained right? And with the rate I seem to be getting injured these days I suppose I need every advantage. But I do feel guilty. If anything happens and Talen finds out that I knew about the Hylians and didn't pass the information on I will end up splattered to a wall. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating. But he will grumble at me for a few weeks after a I get a cuff to the head and a speech about the extents of my idiocy.

I shift I little to prevent my legs form falling asleep. I'm sitting in a back alley a few streets away from the bar. It's a pretty quiet street that always has a bucket or a crate handy for sitting and it always gets a lot of sunlight. Since Talen basically told me to fuck off until I got my act together I've been sitting here thinking my deep thoughts and enjoying the sun. I've also been practicing on my ocarina. I really like that little thing. The sound of it soothes me. Even playing a few notes helps me lift my spirit. I've had this tune stuck in my head for a few weeks now. I have no idea where it is from but it's been niggling at my mind. I'm trying to figure out how to play it by ear. I raise the ocarina to my lips to give it another shot.

Closing my eyes I focus just on the feel of the instrument, smooth and warmed by the sun. I blow a single tone and hold it. Then I go up a note. There. That right there is my starting note. Then I let the rest of the song flow. The notes sail around me smoothly, like a small river or the wind slowly gaining speed then slowing down again as it flows over obstacles.

As I lower the ocarina I hear clapping. How the heck do people keep sneaking up on me?!

I open my eyes and blink. Now that I finally got him off my mind who should appear before me but Drayfus. He's leaning against a wall right across from me, wearing his brown uniform and his easy going smirk.

"That's a nice tune. Where'd you learn it?" He sounds like he's in good humor.

I give my shoulders a shrug. "Dunno."

That causes his smile to evaporate. Maybe he thinks I'm pulling his leg. Then it returns again, like the setting sun, gone but never forever. "So how's your arm?"

"It's fine. Thanks." Okay, I have no idea what he wants and I have no idea how to talk to him. I can feel the stress beginning to gather in my shoulders. I did want to see him again, but not today. I'm also a little pissed with him for managing to shock me at the bar so badly. With him being here, I think he might have done it one purpose. This can't be coincidence.

He cocks his head. "Most people in this part of the world wouldn't thank me for that."

"Most people in this part of the world are assholes." Huh. I guess I'm a feeling a bit cranky. "Now get to point. What do you want?" And impatient. I need more sleep. Usually I can play along. Its better to play along because when you finally decide you have enough there are no plans in place to try and make you stay.

This time the smile stays gone. "What makes you think I want something?" His voice is quiet and serious, his easygoing attitude disappearing to wherever he stuff's his smile when it's not in use.

My eyes make a slow roll.

He stares at me hard for a few seconds as though weighing things in his head. It's just for show. If he hadn't made up his mind to ask for something he wouldn't have bothered to bother me. I am less than impressed by his performance. Finally he purses his lips then leans forward. "I need your help."

For Farore's sake! I open my eyes comically wide and open my mouth. Then in a childish tone I go, "Oh weally, mista? You need help?" I rise back to my normal voice dipped in sarcasm, "I _never_ would have suspected."

Unperturbed he barrels on. "I need some information that has been difficult to acquire. You may have access to it so I was wondering if you would help me gather it?"

"Why?"

He stares at me for a few more seconds. I don't even blink. I am not an idiot and I don't want to play these games today. "Look. I know you're here with an agenda. I know you want some thing, but I am not going to help if it does anything to endanger my home. So you spill everything or I say no. And then maybe I go tell someone that a Hylian is trying to pump me for information."

Maybe he finally picks up on my mood or maybe this was his plan all along. I don't know, I don't care, I'm just glad he cuts the bullshit.

"I am a Royal Messenger." If he's lying he's one bold guy, but that fits with what I know of his character. I stare skeptically and he shifts a bit on his feet. Finally he sighs and crosses over to where I'm still sitting. He kneels down and pulls an object out of his pocket. It is a little gold pendant in the shape of the Triforce. That in itself is not entirely uncommon, people here do to tend to be rather religious. But this one is different. In the centre, where the hole should be is this little purple glow, just suspended there.

Not thinking I reach out and touch it. A booming voice fills my head, accompanied by fanfare. "The bearer of this pendant is hereby recognized as a Royal Messenger of Hyrule and it's current king, his Royal Majesty Reijjus. This pendant can only be activated by an official representative of His Majesty's court." The voice fades out. I blink. That was fairly convincing. I don't know what the king sounds like but I'd totally believe he'd sound like that.

"What is it you need to know?" This is fairly interesting. And just because I know what he wants doesn't mean I have to tell him. I figure whatever I owed him has been rendered null by his free pitchers of beer.

"I need to know the atmosphere here. His Majesty wishes to make a truce and I need to know if it is at all possible. Even if we can finally open up just trade route, maybe swap wool, just anything to help us get over this silly feud. But the common folk are tight lipped. The moment Hyrule is mentioned everyone just goes silent. But you would hear things. You work closely with the government's people. You could have or would else be able to gather this information. "

Well, that does make sense. Direct trade would benefit both countries instead of having to go to a mutual trade partner to buy each other's products. I lean back, thinking hard. "Talk to Queen Ambi. Now may be the best chance you get for a long time, but nobody who isn't important knows that." There. I didn't reveal anything dangerous but I may also have helped out both our countries. And at worse Ambi says no.

He looks surprised. His face bursts back into a grin. "I'll do that." He pats my head and stands, wandering out of the alley and disappearing back onto the main streets.

Ah crud. I should have made him teach me that spell in exchange for the information. If I ask him now he'll want more. Somewhere Nayru is probably laughing at me.


	9. Chapter 9

Talen stashed me behind the bar counter tonight. It is a fairly quiet evening… again. Business has been a little slow lately. I think word got around about Drayfus giving Lloyd the old heave-ho.

I haven't seen Drayfus since that day in the alley but I have managed to put my mind at ease over him. First of, there is most likely no way that I would have been able to learn that spell and there is most definitely no situation in which I would be able to use it. Second now that I know what Drayfus is up too I am far less shocked about why he is here. His story seems to make sense and it isn't like he asked for any information that could be used as weapon. If he is telling the truth his presence here would actually be very beneficial in light of current events. Plus it's been enough days that if he were causing trouble it would be reflected in the local gossip.

I hang the cup I just finished drying up on the rack. It was my last one. So I start to buff the counter with a rag. I have nothing to do but "look pretty" but Teddi puts it (he can be as ass sometimes) but I want to make up for my last few blunderous days, and I figure making the wood shiny enough to style your hair in would help a bit. I feel guilty about being a bother. The last thing I need to do is make Talen's life any harder due to my own incompetence.

My buff job is ruined by a sweaty palm. I look up to see one of Jan and Lloyd's big buddies, (Mervin? Mevrem? It's M-something…) slump across the counter. He looks like he's about to be sick. Sigh… there is no rest for busy.

I wave and shout at Talen, who's sitting and chatting with Mari. "I've got a live one. I'm taking him out back." Talen nods in acknowledgement. If the customer is going to be ill it is best that he sicks up in alley and not on the floor, at least that has always been the policy of the Midnight Angel. I guide Markin to the hall then place myself under his arm. Thank Din I am stronger than I look; Markirk here is heavy. Somehow I manage to help him get through the door to the alley, despite how badly he is staggering. Though we do bump into the walls a few time. And the fact that I want to drop him because of his current body oder also impedes progress. Together we stagger through the door and he pushes off of me, hunkered over like he is going to spew.

Something's wrong.

Dirt grates against the cobblestone and I dodge to the right where Macrkel is crouched over. I can't leave the poor guy here to be robbed and killed. It would be very bad for Talen's business. I take a few seconds to look around. There is definitely one person just around the corner of the building and I suspect a second is in the other alley. I feel like an idiot. I know how to use a sword, but do I own one? Noooo. Why is that? Because I'm too young to use a sword. Would I ever need it? Well this is the second time in as many months that it would have been handy.

A third man claps his hand over my mouth and uses the other on my throat. A soft voice whispers in my ear, "Don't struggle and you won't get hurt." I am going to kill MacKay or whatever the fuck his name is. I am going to kill him so brutally that even vultures will whimper when they see the remains.

My right hand shoots to the hand he has on my neck as my left streaks for my knife. Someone managed to find it after my first scuffle. As my fingers feel it's smooth worn handle my teeth clamp down on M's meaty palm. It tastes absolutely wretched but my suffering was worth it. The hand withdraws very quickly. So quickly in fact that my teeth end up with a bit of a souvenir. I whirl, simultaneously breaking the grip on my neck and slashes with my dagger. Even in the faint light I can see blood on his shoulder. I spit out the hunk of foul flesh and whirl again, aiming for the door. Two figures stand beside it, back lit by the entrance so I can't see who they are. But I know that one is Lloyd. I take a deep breath, preparing to yell for help, hoping I can make it through the entrance.

My yell turns into a gasp before it ever leaves my lung as something is jabbed into my side. What is in the Sacred Realms is that?! My entire side flashes with pain then goes numb. The numbness floods the rest of my body. I can barely breathe. Whatever that was it was definitely cheating.

I struggle to hold onto consciousness as the figures come closer. One is definitely Lloyd, while the other is a stranger to me. I can hear M cursing quietly over what will soon be his newest set of scars.

As I fight to remain awake the stranger pulls off my hat and runs a finger over the tip of my ear. I shudder involuntarily. "Perfect." The stranger man is foreign. He clips his words very much the same way that Nasty Looking did. I know that should mean more to me but right now everything is slowing down. I shut my eyes, hoping it will help me fight through this.

The sound of Lloyd's bark of laughter and the clink of rupees is the last things I hear as the darkness claims me.

**

I wake up feeling heavy and sluggish. My face is itchy. I try to move my arm to scratch it but can't.

That's odd. I know I have arms. Perhaps they are what's digging oddly into my back. I go to roll, but it takes me a few tries to actually make it onto my stomach. My body is being very non responsive. I don't like this. But I really don't like the itch on my face. I try again to scratch my face but my arms remain where they are. It still takes me a few more seconds before I realize they are tied behind my back.

I would love to say that realization woke me up, but truth is I'm still more than a little confused. And itchy. But I am out of scratch itch strategies at the moment so I just lie here with my vague confusion and physical irritation. Finally I find the strength to look around.

Now _that_ wakes me up.

I am staring straight at a wooden spike that has been driven deeply into the ground. A silver (in color anyway) chain has been wrapped around it, using the spike as an anchor to the ground. Said chain snakes around on the dirt before circling to come directly at me. I jerk backwards as best I can in such circumstances and am greeted by rattling and jingling. The sound fills me with dread. I look down. Sure enough the chain leads straight to me and follows up my chest to gently hugs my neck.

"He's awake." It's that clipped accent that I'm beginning to dread hearing. At the sound I jerk my head up, gazing around at my surroundings.

I need to pay more attention to what is going on in my environment because I somehow missed the fact that I am sitting in a camp with at least seven other people. Six of them are crowded around a fire while the seventh is across the small clearing we are in, also chained and bound like myself. The seventh figure is unconscious.

"So he is." Make that eight other people. A hand yanks me up by the hair, pulling me up to my feet. Above my hiss of pain the cacophony of the chain is coarse laughter of my captors. But that isn't what really bothers me. My hat is gone. My mother's necklace is gone. I hope that it is still where it was tossed, somewhere back in the alley in Lynna, instead of in the greasy paws of this rabble but either way I don't hold much hope of seeing it again.

The hand lets go of my hair and it takes enormous concentration to keep my on my feet. Whatever it was they hit me with had nasty side effects. The hand trails gingerly down my scalp past my throat and ends cupping my chin as its owner circles round to my front. I look up.

I am staring into a human face a little higher than mine. It has sharp brown eyes and dark brown hair. The features around round but not necessarily unflattering.

That's all I catch as hit the ground again, crying out somewhat from the pain in my chest from the punch but mostly from the fire blossoming in my shoulders as I land on my tied arms.

"That was a warning. Next time I will not be so generous." His voice is clear and dark, filled with the promise of pain and despair.

I _really_ think one of the Goddesses hate me.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Zelda nor any of the rights to the resulting comics.

Yay! Chp 10! And my reviews make me glad I live in the second largest country in world! JK, thanks guys for all the feedback. It's actually been really helpful. It makes it much easier to neglect my homework.

Oh, and FYI-I warned you about the rating.

**

The rules are clear and straightforward.

Don't Look.

Don't Speak.

Don't Listen.

As long as follow them you will be free from reprimand.

That being said, here's what I've managed to find out so far. People keep forgetting that pointy ears are not stylish but _functional_. The man who punched me out is definitely the leader of this troupe. He is called either Mordred or Sir and when he isn't smacking around prisoners he remains silent and disapproving with an arrogance that is almost enviable, never joining in with the chitchat the rest of the group seems to partake in.

The rest of the group is made up of Leroi, Jeeves, Toni, Fadric, Kerri and Buck. I don't really know whose face goes to which name, except that Leroi was the man in the alley with Lloyd. The other prisoner is unconscious. I think they are knocking us out on rotation so she's awake while they move and I'm up during camp. Which means that she gets more time conscious than I do.

By the sounds of it the group is pushing pretty hard. It sounds like the plan is the head south and cut through the Deku Forests. That way, any pursuers will lose us there, plus it allows the slavers to cast suspicion onto Hyrule instead of Holodrum. And with how stupid Labrynnians can be about this they will probably just lap it up. People are dumb.

We will then travel east within the forest until we reach Termina. Only a small portion of the country separates Holodrum from Hyrule, kind of like a trianlge block wedged between two rectangles. So it will take maybe a day or two to go from the Hylian border to the Holodrum border and then its home free. For them I mean. For me it will mean that the nightmare truly begins.

I am not going to let that happen. So I have been making sure to play it on the down low, flinching and wincing whenever anyone gets to close. I have been thinking that-

A shout goes up from the camp. That's odd. The girl just woke up and man, does she look peeved, though I can't say I blame her. Panic seems to spread across the group, which surprises me more than a little. What can a tied and chained girl still overcoming the effects of a drugged sleep possibly do to a party of seven fully grown, fully armed and fairly viscous grown men?

My answer comes in the form of snapping bone, the sound just confirming what my eyes are screaming at me. Holy shit. She broke Jeeves' nose! With here hands tied behind her back! And her neck chained to a post!

I watch mesmerized. With quick moments she kicks the end of chain, dislodging the post from the ground. She deftly spins her legs above her head, using the momentum to rise to a half crouch, snarling as the slavers warily circle around her. One, Toni I think, reaches for the stake that is still attached to the chain. He also takes a boot, but this time to the groin. I smile inside as he crumples without so much as whimper. She hit him hard. The chain had snaked back around her leg, making it impossible for her attackers to grab.

Two of them rush her from the side, tackling her hard. With that it is pretty much over. I think she has realized it too because she has stopped struggling. They draw her to her feet holding her still bound arms and she glares at them defiantly, as though daring them to let go. They aren't_ that__ dumb._

Mordred strides over to here with a disdain he _must_ practice. He slowly, almost leisurely, reaches down and picks up the end of chain. Then he nods and the two guards let go. Silence stretches out, no one willing to move. The only noise that can be heard is Jeeves' faint wet wheezing through his broken nose.

Then with barely a flick of his wrist the girl is sent flying toward Mordred. He catches her with his kneecap and she hits the dirt, gasping. But only gasping. She doesn't even swear as she lies in the dirt, probably in quite a bit of pain. Mordred is strong and he doesn't pull his punches.

He pulls her up by her hair. I think he must get some kicks out of doing that. Maybe he has a hair fetish. He draws her face close to his. "Learned your lesson?" She spits on his face and he lets outs a long sigh, like he's under some brutal torment. He visciously throws her to the ground and kicks her in the face. She groans and lies there stunned. I think she's bleeding from her lip. Mordred grabs the collar directly and lifts. He hits her again, then again, then again. Shit, he's going to kill her.

"Coward." My voice comes out trembling and weak. But he hears me. He drops the girl, and she just lies there. I'm no doctor and even I can see that she's in a lot of pain.

He strides over to me just as lazily as he strode over to her. I tremble a bit as he approaches.

"What did you say?" He voice sounds conversational, pleasant like we are about to chat about the weather.

I square my shoulders a bit and look up. "I said coward." My voice comes out a little stronger.

He crouches and sits on his heels, looking me square in the eyes. I'm blinking but also holding his gaze. His voice is velvet smooth. "And how do you figure that?"

"My dad always said men who beat on women are cowards." My voice is quiet, subdued. I don't break eye contact but I let my bottom lip tremble a bit as I speak.I think I managed to find the right tone.

He stares at me, eyes unreadable. I look away first, staring down at my knees and shaking my shoulders. I'm braced for a punch or a kick. It will come soon. Mordred likes his dramatic emphasis. A corner of my mind tries to picture a conversation between him and Drayfus. All I can see is over used silences and ridiculous posing. That part of my brain shrieks with hysterical laughter.

So I'm surprised I'm gently touched. That's not part of the plan. Mordred's hand traces the line of my neck and I wait, expecting it to throttle me at any moment. Instead it softly cups my jaw and turns my head. I keep my eyes fixed on the ground. This is not what I expected to happen and _that_ scares me.

"Look at me." Mordred fucking croons the command. I follow it and once again find myself inches from his penetrating gaze. I flinch. His face is way too close for me to feel comfortable right now. "How is it that I should treat a woman then?" If I didn't know any better his tone would be pleasant, even soothing. I force slack into my shoulders, slowly inching them away from my neck. "Should I be gentle?" His other hand begins to tenderly stroke my cheek.

I'm still waiting for him to hit me. Please let it be he's preparing to hit me. Whatever it is, it is going to bad. He wouldn't prolong it if it wasn't going to be bad. I know he's savoring his whole "luring me into feel safe" routine. He thinks I'm an idiot. I'm okay with that, but I really wish he'd hurry up and get on with it. With all the trouble he took to catch me I'm certain he won't beat me to death. Fairly certain, anyway.

He shifts and I'm certain it's about to begin. It does. But definitely not how I expect it to.

The hand that has on my face wraps itself into my hair, holding tight but not pulling enough to hurt. The hand that was one my jaw is retracted and replaced by his lips on mine.

What the fuck! This is _not happening_. Why the hell can't anyone find a fucking girl? I'm frozen by shock as he worms his tongue into my mouth. It tastes gritty, dirty.

I don't have a plan to handle this. I'm not even sure what the hell is going on. I just want to barf. I can't even pull away to do that. His hand is holding me firmly, pulling me further to his embrace. I realize that right now, in this position, on my knees with hands tied behind my back I am totally helpless. I want to bite his tongue of. I would prefer to have my mouth full of his blood rather than his tongue. Hell, I'd rather have a mouth full of my own waste than his tongue.

He finally pulls back, but keeps his hand wound in my hair. He keeps his skin touching mine as he whispers lovingly in my ear, "Is that how I should treat a woman?" Then he kiss the lobe. I feel hot trails as tears leak down my cheek.

They make a strong contrast to my insides, which are full of ice as his other hand begins to grope at me obscenely. He keeps whispering in my ear. "Do you want me to stop?"

Fuck. I am _not _answering that. I don't move as he paws at me, keeping my terrified expression mounted to my face. I am going to kill Mordred. I'm not just saying it this time. I _will_ kill him.

He aligns himself so he is once again staring me in the face. "Do you want me to stop?" I stay silent while inside my head I am praying pretty much to anyone that is willing to listen.

A cough steals Mordred's attention. Leroi doesn't even flinch as he is pinned with Mordred's menacing gaze. His hand grips tighter and I can tell that he did not want to be interrupted.

"Sir, our orders were unharmed and unused. Lord Agunim wants the boy whole." That's the only time I think I'll ever be happy to hear that voice. The hysterical corner of my mind gives a little cheer for Leroi.

Mordred turns back to me. He stares at me a few seconds and I begin to shake violently. I blame adrenaline. He drops his hands and lets out a disgusted sigh as he stands. Quick as a snake he boots me in the ribs and I am once again lying on the ground gasping. He gives me two more kicks.

"This isn't finished boy. When Lord Agunim is done with you you're mine."

And that's where I'm left, shivering and shaking in the dirt. But I'm okay. For now I'm okay.


	11. Chapter 11

I know this one is fairly short but it was either that or make it really long. I prefer short.

**

I run my tongue over my teeth for the hundredth time today, as though I could scrub out the feel of Mordred's tongue. Since I don't have any soap it was the best solution I could come up with. It would provide me with temporary relief, but I know that gritty scratchy feeling would return soon.

But despite my discomfort Mordred's rage was worth it. The girl is okay. She's a little stiff but is fully conscious and still looks pissed. And she's awake. I take those all as good signs.

After her little stunt they stopped drugging us. I guess, where she's concerned, its better to know she's awake and ready to tear your throat out with her teeth instead of having a false sense of security and getting your throat cut while you sleep. She's pretty much wrapped from knees to neck in rope and one of the guys is holding her collar at all times, but that's not actually a huge problem.

My accommodations have also been altered. Apparently my passive reactions have rendered me as "pathetic" on everyone's danger gage. Excellent. I'm still awake and my hands have been tied at my front instead of my back. The stupid chain has been replaced with a rope, through the steel collar still hugs my neck like a drunken lover. That and I'm on a horse. The girl has been stuck in the back of a horse drawn cage but they let me ride on the animal no problem. Not by myself of course, Leroi is behind me the entire time, holding my rope. I think he feels responsible for me in some twisted "well, he's my catch" kind of way. He's not Mordred and that's all that really matters at this point… though it would be great if he were Jeeves. But good things come to those who wait.

And since there isn't really much else I can do at this point I decide to just enjoy the ride and rest as much as I can while riding a horse. I'm a pretty good horseman, so it isn't too hard. Gunther and Ameil taught me when on one of my numerous visits to their manor. They taught me quite a bit about horses.

And the countryside is pretty, especially in the mid morning sun. Everything is the green of early summer; emerald and sparkling under a light blue sky. A few clouds slowly slid themselves south, lazily shifting in the breeze. And from this hill I can just make out in the distance, maybe a few hours ride, is the Deku Forest, the border between Labrynna and Hyrule.

As we march onward that's where I focus my eyes. Have you ever noticed how life is easier when you give yourself a marker? You just have to serve three more customers and then you can take your break. You just have to break past Teddi's guard and you're done for the day. You just have to take one more punch and then you can hit him back. These little things help use measure our reality. They are what allow us to move forward without going mad. Finding the things that stay still, or at least still enough, in this ever-flowing mess.

But it still seems as though it's taking forever. The trees are tiny specks, nor more than olive dust on the horizon.

Then suddenly they're huge. I blink. I think I missed something.

Leroi dismounts and starts pulling me off the horse. "Come on now, sleeping beauty." Ah. I guess I had a bit of a nap. Huh. I guess that works out for the best. Though my legs aren't aware that I'm awake and I hit the ground with a bit of a thump. I wince but don't bother forcing myself to stand. Leroi will haul me to my feet when the time comes.

So in the meanwhile I watch the hustle and bustle as things change. The girl is dragged from the cart and dumped on the ground. The cart is taken off the horse and a couple of the guys drag it to the edge of the bush, doing a piss poor job of hiding it, probably on purpose. If anyone in Labrynna really thinks that Hyrule was behind this I'll either laugh or cry at the insanity of it. At this point all that's really needed is for someone to scrawl out a sloppy note saying, "It was us. –Hiruel." It's actually pretty pathetic on both sides.

The horses are all dismounted and the saddle packs are reorganized until all the supplies fit into four, which are loaded onto the two biggest animals. Then the girl is loaded onto the third, draped across the animal's back much like the saddlebags. Then the men grab the reins and leading the horses to the woods. Leroi halls me to my feet, using my arm to hold onto me as we march into the woods.

In Labrynna we've heard about the Deku Forest, and it's more ominous section, the Lost Woods. It's actually a fairy tale we tell children when they miss behave. "If you keep his up we'll leave you in the Lost Woods." The forest is said to be filled with beasts of all kinds, wolfos and stalchildren and even fairy enchantresses, all of which are eager to lead to one to a painful death. Some of those rumors are even true.

Maybe that's what the plan for the horses is. Mordred gives a wave and all the ones not carrying anything are released. I guess the idea is to walk to Holodrum from here. That means we will be in the woods for at least a day, but probably two or three. They can't exactly move fast with the horses we do have, and the size of the party also makes rapid traveling into this environment more than a little challenging.

The horses whinny and run off as Jeeves shouts and waves at them. They race off into the bushes and soon join the mess of animal sounds, a cacophony of birds and small creatures, twittering and squeaking they way through life.

But all I can see is the flora. The trees are just huge. Some of them have trunks so big it would take at least four of me to wrap around the base, and that's a conservative guestimate. The forest floor is covered in viridian moss, old leaves, and a myriad of shrubs and other, smaller forms of plant life, only some of which I recognize.

I stumble over a leaf filled pothole and go flying, my landing softened by a nearby bush. Leroi curses and halls me to my feet, too irritated with my clumsiness to notice anything in my hands. I give a quick cough and cover mouth, depositing my newest treasure under my tongue.

Phase two complete. Maybe someone up there does love me after all.


	12. Chapter 12

A new chapter, just cause I lurv you guys.

**

"What in the Sacred Realm is wrong with him?" Mordred sounds almost… concerned, which is completely crazy not to mention a little creepy. Using that tone makes him sound almost like a person. Well, I guess, technically (only technically) he is one. He's just a fucked up and broken down version that shows perverted and sadistic tendencies. But biologically he seems to have the right stuff. He's certainly frisky enough.

"I'm not sure. He was fine a few seconds ago." Leroi sounds worried too, but he seems to be like that. I noticed earlier today that the girl had a bandage wrapped around her head. I think that was Leroi. Maybe he thinks he's a vet. Gotta keep the chattel alive.

My stomach attempts to perform another trapeze stunt and my observations are cut short. Leroi starts vigorously rubbing my back. I have no idea what he's trying to do. Does rubbing someone's back really cure anything? I don't actually think so. I guess I'll ask Dr. Lohan the next time I see him. Shit I'm distracted. My brain won't shut up and watch.

Anyway, it doesn't help what's wrong with me. I retch, sacrificing the remnants of my measly lunch to the forest floor. Leroi holds my hair back as I gag, my body trying to expel the contents of a now empty stomach. Maybe I'm overdue for a trim. If I cut my hair then maybe everyone will figure out I'm a guy.

"Shit! He's pretty sick. What are we going to do?" I am eased onto my side and I feel a large hand on my forehead. "He's burning up too. What are we going to do?"

Well, there are really only a few options.

1. They can try and shift the saddlebags or move the girl around and put me on a horse again. Possible flaws. I'm running a high fever and demonstrating severe nausea. Since it seems I need to be presented to this "Lord Agunim" character in good health instead of half dead this idea is less than favorable. Plus with the state I'm in and the fact that we are in a forest it probable won't save them any time.

2. Someone could carry me. Possible flaws. I may be light but I am _not_ that light. They'd have to keep switching me around and whoever was stuck carrying me risked the danger of being unpleasantly adorned. Plus they probably think this is contagious.

3. They could make camp somewhere and wait for me to get better, at least well enough to travel. The biggest danger in this situation is it gives whatever pursuers we may or may not have a chance to catch up.

But apparently it is worth the risk. Mordred motions Toni, Kerri and Buck to him. "We need a defensible place to camp. I want you all to scout out a direction and return here by nightfall. I'll take south." I'm surprised to hear that the big boss man is willing to help out with such menial chores. "Whoever finds the best position will receive part of Keif's cut." Oh greed, how doth we love thee. I can see the faces all splitting in to matching grins. Mordred doesn't even wait to see who's going where. He just marches off, fading into the forest.

It doesn't take long for the rest of the group to follow suit. The hardest part was deciding who had to take north. We had just come from that direction, so any location found would be seen as less favorable. Toni gets stuck with it, one of the others throwing out how its safer for someone who was beaten up by a girl to travel a road they already know. Ironically I think it's Jeeves. I can hear Toni's dark mutterings for quite some time after he marches off.

That leaves me, Leroi, Jeeves, Fadric and the girl. I really need to find out her name, or at least give her a label more flattering than "the girl." Later. Focus. I have maybe three hours to do this.

The girl is still trapped draped around the horse. All three of them have been tied to branches and the two carrying saddlebags are sitting down, resting peacefully under the strange light of the forest. The one she is on is still standing, flicking his tail from side to side.

Leroi places something soft under my head, giving me a bit of a pillow as I lay on my side. He covers me his jacket. I make sure to keep trembling anyway.

I lie there for what seems like forever, trembling and occasionally moaning. The moan is important. It helps them remember that I'm a wuss.

And that is worrying Leroi. I can tell. His hand is on my forehead again and he's mumbling to himself. I bet that if I were to kick off it would be his head and not Mordred's that would be sent flying. And he knows it.

"Fadric, go fetch a bucket of water." Perfect.

Well, almost perfect. Fadric whines a bit. "Where the hell will I get water from?"

"We passed a small stream not too far back. It's not like I need it to drink. I have to find a way to bring the boy's fever down. If he'd dead by the time Mordred gets back I'm just going to explain that you wouldn't cooperate with my trying to save the boy." Fadric snorts in response. I can't see his face from here, but I guess he doesn't look convinced because Leroi keeps at it. "Not to mention how Lord Agunim will take it. He was very insistent about _alive_. Do you really think we'll get paid for ruined merchandise?"

Fadric snorts again but I guess he can't think of a good argument because he's rummaging through the packs, looking for a container. It takes him a bit to find one and then he too disappears into the wilderness.

And then there were two.

I let out another moan, this one wheezing a bit. Leroi is right by my side, fingering the collar around my neck. I wince every time he touches the surrounding skin. That helps him make up his mind. He rolls me onto my back and undoes the blasted thing and I take a deep breath. My luck seems to be on the good side today. I had no idea how to take that blasted thing off.

"Is it really okay to be doing that?" Jeeves bends over me, his head right above my mine.

"Illness causes the neck to swell. We need him breathing. Plus he's too weak to do anything."

They are times when you just know when the perfect moment is.

I kick up my legs and roll up onto my shoulders, hooking my ankles behind Jeeves' ears, then use gravity in combination with my legs and back to throw him sprawling at my feet. The momentum carries me to a standing position. I immediately spin and kick a surprised Leroi in the face. He had leaned back to avoid Jeeves' shoulder but I think what was happening still eluded him. Also excellent.

The kick didn't have enough force to do any serious damage, but it stuns him for a few precious seconds. I plow into his side, my hand groping at his belt.

Then he's fighting back, pushing me off. I go stumbling backwards but manage to keep my feet beneath me. And in my hands I carry my prize.

Oh yeah! I have his sword. That means I win! They might not know it but I totally just won this fight.

Leroi snarls as he sees what's in my hand. He draws his dagger rushes me, not evening bothering to try and evaluate me. I side step and swing the blade clumsily. I can't grip it right with my wrists tied together.

Thank goodness Nayru didn't bless this guy. I guess Leroi thought that I would freeze up the moment he rushed me, so he didn't even try to dodge as I swung. The flat of the blade caught him in the face, sending him to dream land for at least a while. Hurray for me.

Then Jeeves is on his feet again. He pulls his own sword and circles me warily. I watch him, feeling slightly dizzy as I am forced to spin to watch his movements. I lower my sword a bit to try and steady myself.

Noting my weakness he moves in, sword swinging. I barely get my weapon up in time to parry. The forest goes silent as the metallic ringing chimes. But Jeeves doesn't stop. He swings low, trying to take out my legs. I angle my sword and point the tip to the ground. His blade is forced to slide towards the ground. I stomp on the weapon, pinning it between my boot and the soft floor of the forest.

Then I pummel him in the face.

When I was learning to use a sword the key thing that was reinforced over and over again, no matter who my teacher was, was that every part of the weapon was a weapon. The tip is for stabbing, the edge for slicing, the flat for bludgeoning and even the cross guard can be used for used for gouging.

And the pummel was for pummeling.

**

AN-The thing Link did to Jeeves totally works. Someone was standing over me one day poking me in the head and I really did throw them like that. It was sooo awesome.

And the sword trivia is also true. I took a theatrical swordplay demo once and this was all covered. That and the edges of swords weren't actually sharp, except for the top three inches of the blade. But my sword has sharp edges. This _is_ a fantasy story.


	13. Chapter 13

AN-Hey all. Thanks again for the reviews. Because of them I have been neglecting my homework a bit. (Shh, tell no one!) So far it looks as though the story is aiming for +40 chapters or I'm going to have divide it into 2. For those of you who know the story line, you should have expected this. We haven't even made it to Zelda yet. But there is a Plan which is fueled by reviews and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. So we will make it. Look at it this way. This story has only existed for a week and day and it's already chp 13. We'll make it.

**

The sound of his breaking bones is sweeter than the purest note of my ocarina.

Jeeves just drops. It is Awesome. That's right; with a capital A. I'm pretty sure that any hope he had had of his nose healing into its old shape was just flattened, literally. And I bet that I fractured his cheekbone.

The rush of success makes me sway on my feet. Oh, wait. Shit, that's nausea. I don't have a lot of time.

I stagger over to Leroi, pulling his dagger from his hand. He doesn't even flinch as I step on his wrist to loosen his grip. The dagger feels warm and sweaty in my grip. It makes my stomach twist. The handle is leather, making the handle even more unpleasant in my grasp. It smells funky. I guess it's serving as a reminder that I'm not out of the woods yet (ha ha). But seriously, not safe yet. Fadric could come walking back in any minute and I really don't want to have to fight someone else.

I make my way to the horses, which are now watching me warily. So is the girl. I think. I'm still feeling off. The adrenaline is starting to wear off and several poor sleeps and a lack of food are starting to catch up with me. I had thought I'd have more time. I have to hurry.

I start working at the ropes, starting with the ones holding the girl to the horse. I help her slide off so she doesn't break anything hitting the ground. Then I work until I manage to free up her wrists, wincing as I accidentally nick her skin. She doesn't. She just stares at me. I have no idea why. Fuck it, that's not important right now. As soon as her hands are loose I clumsily thrust the knife into her hand so she can finish freeing herself. I place my head between my knees, trying to ride out the newest wave of vertigo as she finishes rescuing herself. She touches my shoulder and I look up blearily.

Oh shit, the collar. I lift up her long hair and start fiddling with the locking mechanism. It's soft. Her hair I mean, not the lock. That's made of metal. Metal isn't soft. Duh. The lock is actually pretty simple. But in my confused state it still takes a few seconds of tinkering before I manage to get it loose. The collar releases its grip and slips silently onto the forest floor.

She helps me to my feet, dragging me upwards. I slump against her shoulders and just let her lead me. She takes me to the horses.

Oh, that's I good idea. I manage to haul myself up onto the animal. She cuts the reins of the one she was tied to and hits its rear, sending it bolting into the woods. She then clambers up onto the other animal and grabs the lead of the one I'm on.

I have no idea which direction we're going. I just slump against the animal's neck and concentrate on not passing out. I concentrate on listening to my surroundings, hoping that will anchor me to the world. I can hear the forest, and thankfully, no people besides the girl and myself. But I can hear the buzz of the insects and the chitter of squirrels. Somewhere up ahead an owl lets out a cry. And the wind rustles gently through the trees. It reminds me of that lullaby on my ocarina…

Then I'm being helped of the horse. It's almost dark. Well, I guess I was out of it. But I feel much better so it was probably worth it.

I wave the hand away. "I'm okay now," and I slide off the horse. Cool, I'm not even dizzy from that. Excellent. I turn to the girl. "Thank you."

Wow. Looking at her she's actually rather cute, not the type one would expect to be such a spitfire. She's got pixie features, but full lips. Her hair is as black as midnight including that dark blue twinge, which contrasts her storm grey eyes. She's tall for a girl, maybe an inch shorter than me. Or maybe I'm just that short. She's not slender but has one of those healthy builds that can only be achieved by rigorous exercise. She looks to be my age or maybe a bit younger. It's hard to tell with how bruised her face is from Mordred's last fight. The dark bruises stand out like spilt ink across her face.

I become acutely aware of the girl's hand on my shoulder. I look down at my boots and tap my feet on the ground. "Thanks," I mumble again. She's got crystal earrings dangling off of perfectly rounded ears. She's human. I hope she doesn't decide to make this awkward. If we can work together we will stand a much better chance of making it somewhere safe.

The uncomfortable silence stretches out. I look at her through my curtain of blonde bangs. She's still just staring at me. What the hell? Then she frowns, finally displaying something other than bruises on her face.

"Are you sure you're okay? You seem to be a bit of pussy. The last thing I need is you hindering me as we escape." Awe, such touching concern. Who was it that got us away from our captors? Oh. That's right. That was me. You know what? Whatever.

"I'm fine." I keep my stress from leaking too far into my voice. Years of customer service have given me such fine acting skills.

She shakes her head. "Fine then. We are going to spend the night walking. You fall asleep again or you can't keep up and I leave you behind." And she storms off just like that, only pausing to giving the horse a sharp smack, which sends it skittering into the night, along with the supply bags.

Whoa. Attitude alert. No wonder they kept her drugged. I follow her anyway. I'm good for now, and if I do pass out again I want to be far away from where we started. And here I thought that just getting out of the slaver's sight was going to be the hard part.

Wrong doesn't even begin to cover that miscalculation. By Din, how can someone that short walk that fast? She exudes attitude the way Mipp releases body odor. Hey, I remembered his name! That was random. Well, now I can add it to my "to maim and kill" list.

Anyway I suppose I should feel privileged that she let me keep the sword. Then again, I think that if we were attacked by anything she'd just use her teeth, and probably with more success. Maybe she has venom. Or rabies. The only comfort I can find in this is she doesn't seem to hate me because I'm Hylian. I think she's just like this. And by this I mean total bitch.

The forest is at least light. Fireflies fill the evening, giving us more than enough light to navigate the trees. And they seem to be following us. It's almost creepy, but in a comforting way. And more importantly it is giving us an advantage. We are making pretty good time… unless we're going in circles. It would suck to find out we've been going in circles.

We travel for what feels like hours in this manner. She doesn't ever look back. I really don't think she'd notice if I dropped dead although I am not actually interested in testing that theory.

An owl hoots somewhere in the night. The girl stops on the dime, quick enough that if I hadn't been only a few steps (okay, a few feet) behind her I would have ran smack into her. As it is I still almost crash into her. My sudden stillness seems to confuse my brain. I feel another wave of dizziness come crashing down on me. But that doesn't prevent me from watching her.

Something's up. Her body language has changed completely. She looks almost relaxed, like tension is being sucked out of her body by an invisible whirlpool. Ye, I know there are no whirlpools in a forest. So it's an imperfect analogy. For shits sake it's not like I'm writing this down or anything.

She turns slowly toward me, wearing a huge and genuine grin. "We're safe here and have allies on the way." Then she frowns. "You don't look so good. Are you okay?"

Why wouldn't I be okay? She's the one who's spinning. Oh. Wait. Damn. I once again find myself slipping into unconsciousness. This is beginning to become a habit.

I wonder if fainting is contagious?


	14. Chapter 14

I'm dreaming again. I know because I'm made out of that weird viscous light again. But this time I'm in a forest. Well, I'm actually in a clearing, but the clearing is in a forest, so I'm right. Technically.

I'm also not alone.

One the other side of the clearing a shape is forming. It seems to be pouring through this brilliant green tunnel, slowly becoming more and more solid. I should be afraid. I think wherever I left my actually body there is a bit of fear, but that is far away from here. The part of me that is here, now, watching this feels removed yet oddly fascinated.

The shape that finally manifests after the dramatic light show is a woman. A scantily clad woman. In fact, all she's wearing is vines and heavy leather boots that rise to her knees. They are nice vines and I am sure they are very popular to wear where she's from, and they really bring out the red in her hair, but my ears still glow with heat and my gaze once again finds my feet. Vines aren't exactly a modest look.

I don't hear her walk towards me. But this is a dream. Things like that can happen I guess. Yet her hand stroking my cheek feels very real. Too real.

I jerk back, trembling and fighting off the surge of memory. I can feel the tears pricking the corners of my eyes. But I won't let them fall, not here.

"Poor thing." I look up at the sound of her voice, searching for any sign that she's mocking me, or worse, pitying me. Instead I find a tender look on her face. It reminds me of Mari.

Mari. By the Triforce I miss her. And Talen. I haven't thought about them since I was captured. It just hurts too much. I don't know how they handled this. I don't know if they know or even I hope I'm alive. Maybe Talen is angry. Maybe he thinks I abandoned him. Maybe he's sick of how much trouble I cause him. I always cause him trouble. I try so hard to avoid it but trouble keeps showing on my doorstep. And despite not trying to be burden I still hope that he took after me.

The tears that were prickling are now pouring down my face. Shit, I'm sobbing. Yeah, I know, I cried in front of Mordred, but that was different. Right now I'm just being a crybaby. Tears don't solve anything. They just demonstrate weakness. They're superfluous. I should be stronger than this. I wrap my arms around me, gasping and trying to steady my breathing.

She wraps her arms around me and just holds me, humming that same song, same lullaby I heard in my last dream. And I just keep crying and crying. Fuck, I can't stop it. I have to wait for the tears to run their course before I can finally breath normally again. And even then I still take a few minutes to compose myself before I extract me from her arms.

"Sorry. I'm done now." I laugh shakily but she just keeps this soft sad smile on her face. It's full of shadows. I've seen that smile on Talen's face whenever someone says something naive and optimistic. It's the "things will get worse from here, but you'll find out soon enough" smile. It sends chills down my spine. Bad Omens.

Then the shadows lift from her face and she finally speaks. "I am the Great Fairy of the Forest. I have a gift for you. Receive it now." She touches my chest and I feel heat gather in my center. My entire body goes rigid, unable to move. Surprisingly, it's not painful, or even uncomfortable, just unusual.

Then images begin to race behind my eyes. It's me, holding a sword. I'm holding it at an odd angle, pointing it behind me instead of in front. Then the sword begins to glow, the color intensifying the longer the image of me holds it. He, well, I, swing the sword in a brilliant flash of color, using the force of the swing to spin a full circle.

Then I go slack and stumble forward a few steps. The woman, well, Great Fairy I guess, catches my hands, placing something cool and smooth into them and then using my loss of balance to pull me forward so she can whisper in my ear.

"That was my gift to you. And this is from my Mistress."

And suddenly I'm awake.

I remember this dream pretty clearly. The one I had had before returns in shadows and fragments. Huh. I had completely forgotten about it. Maybe I have a dream danger response or something. That's pretty crazy, but hey, so were past the few days.

I go to ease myself into sitting. That's strange… why I am I holding something? I look down at my hands to see whatever has been placed in them.

………….?!

Uh, wow.

I'm holding an ocarina. A nice ocarina. Like if ocarinas had royalty I just found the matriarch of the family and she's still ruling type nice ocarina. It's a metallic blue in color and has elaborate etch work done all around the edges, much of it displaying holy symbols. And the funny thing about it? I don't even care about the ocarina. I could probably sell this thing and retire and _I don't care_.

I'm too busy still being floored by what's hanging off of it.

It's my mother's necklace.

At this point there isn't really much I can do but blink stupidly. Whoa, real dream. I watch the thought cross my mind and fade into the silent confusion I now feel.

Fuck it, it's Hyrule, land of the Triforce and all that shit. Magic happens here. Be grateful instead of over thinking this. That's my explanation and I am sticking to it and not thinking about what it means to have a woman, a scantily clad woman, be able to pass me notes while I sleep.

I slip my mother's necklace under my tunic. Under my soft, supple, nonexistent tunic…Wait a tick. Why I am naked? Why are mornings so confusing? Why does this keep happening to me?

I wrap the blanket around me and quickly give the room a scan. Well, at least I'm alone this time.

The room is actually rather strange. Everything in it is mini and child size, except for the ceiling, which seems rise up forever. Plus the room is completely round. The furniture, a small table and chair, as well as a few cupboards, is awkwardly arrange to try and fit with the walls, but fails as square things in round holes tend to do.

Oh looky, there's clothes on the table. I make my way over there, wrapping the blanket around my waste just in case there is someone else here with me. With the month I've been having you just never know.

I slip into the clothes. They have to be for me, they're my size. I have a feeling that my regular outfit has probably been burned or something. I can't really fault anyone if that's what happened.

Nor can I complain about this outfit, even though I feel like a clown. I am now wearing a bright green tunic. It's got sleeves that end just before my elbow and a hem that stops about three inches above my knee. At least it comes with a nice practical brown leather belt that helps make the effect less ridiculous. And the belt even has a pouch in which I can slip the ocarina into.

Because underneath my tunic I am wearing a tight, long sleeved, white shirt that came with matching pants. Just ignoring the idiocy of white clothing for a moment I am still trying to wrap my idea around tights. Why the hell are they so comfy? Well, at least I'll feel good while I look like an ass.

Oh, look, a hat. It's not a style I'm used to wearing; it's more of a cone of fabric. Whatever, a hat is hat. I plunk it on my head and tuck the tips of my ears under the fabric. And I suddenly feel safe again. And way less ridiculous.

I then slip on the leather gauntlets that have been left on the table. When these people decide to dress you they go all out. At least the boots are my own. I have no idea how I am going to pay whoever gave me the clothes back.

I guess I'm ready to go out and find out what's going on now and face the day. Who knows? Maybe people won't be being weird today.

**

AN-Hey guys. Thank again for all the reviews! I really appreciate them. XD


	15. Chapter 15

Does the universe have this thing for proving me wrong? Serisourly. I feel like whenever I say something the opposite becomes true.

The locals are all _kids_. All of them. I step through the curtain that serves as a door and am suddenly staring at an ocean of children, and it's staring back at me. They all look to be the same age, ten or so, and are all wearing similar outfits. Yup, they are all wearing green tunics.

I can handle that part, I really can.

It's the glowing balls of light that I'm having trouble coping with.

Each one of the kids has the glowing orb swirling gently around them. There are maybe 15 in total, all soft colors like light blue and soft pink. And I think they are watching me too.

Two spokesmen, people, make their way to the front of gaggle of goggling eyes. A girl with hair, eyes, and a fairy as green as her tunic steps forward with a big smile, while the boy approaches more warily. He has red hair mostly hidden under a hat much like the one I am wearing and a splash of freckles dots his face and he is followed by one of the pink orbs. I watch in silence as they approach, shifting my weight from foot to foot. My boots creak too loudly.

The girl laughs delightedly and rushes me, latching onto my waste with a hug. I throw my arms up, not quite sure how to respond. What the hell? At least the boy hangs back, glaring at me. I think his orb thingy might be glaring too, but I have no idea if it even has eyes. At least he is not violating my leg.

It feels like forever before she finally peels herself off of me. Even then she keeps contact, keeping her fingertips on my thigh and leaning slightly in.

She looks up at me with a huge smile. Whoa. She really does have eyes the same color as her hair. Oh, and pointy ears. So she is some form of Hylian.

"Tee hee. I am so glad to see you're okay." And she has a voice like a brook, sweet and singsongy. "We were very worried when we found you and Miss Ganty." Miss Ganty? Oh, the girl. I wonder where she is. "Oh, and the clothes fit! I am so glad they do."

"Of course they do." The voice comes from my side and I nearly jump out of my skin. The floating ball of light is _talking_. And it's talking to me. "They're supposed to fit so they do. That's the way it works."

"Uh, thanks." Not exactly a great first impression but hey, I tried okay? I'm under a bit of pressure here.

"You're welcome." The ball, this one is blue, glows a little brighter along the edges.

Wait, how did they get the clothes to fit? The girl explains my question before I'm given a chance to ask it. "The Great Deku Tree provided us with them. Your old clothes were pretty useless." She comically wrinkles her nose at this. "We had to… dispose… of them. Sorry."

So this ridiculous getup was their way of being nice. That actually makes me feel really warm inside. And it is comfy but I will _never, ever_ admit that out loud.

I stare the girl solemnly in the eye. "Thank you very much. I doubt I could wear them again." It's true. I run my tongue over my teeth.

"Oh." The girl keeps her brilliant smile. "Well, then, its okay. I'm Saria and this is Naal." The orb does this complicated pattern. I think it's in greeting. "And that's Mido and Fiin." Mido's light ball makes a simple, lazy circle around his head and Mido gives a halfhearted wave.

Silence stretches for a few seconds. Oh, yeah. "I'm Link." It's weird to be where no one knows me. I'm infamous in Lynna. Everybody knows and hates me. I guess I'm being given another chance to make new enemies.

I look around, managing to notice other things besides the swarm of children and matching accessories.

I'm in a clearing full of tree houses, in the most literal sense possible. A mess of giant stumps have been hollowed out and decorated with flags and eaves and such. How the hell did they get stumps that big? If they had beavers big enough to do _that_ it's no wonder that everyone is afraid of the Deku woods. At least I think this is the Deku Forest. Maybe I should find out. "Uh, where am I?"

Saria giggles. "This is Kokiri village and we are the Kokiri." Okay… that means nothing to me. I think she can see it on my face because she explains some more. "We are the children of the Great Deku Tree, the guardian of these woods. He'll keep you safe here, so you and Miss Ganty don't have to worry about the bad men. They can't enter our village without permission."

Great Deku Tree? A magical tree that can sew and protect everyone from Holodrum slavers? Talen needs to pick one of those up for the bar. It would have been useful like a week ago.

Saria tugs at my hand. "Come on. We're going to be late. The Great Deku Tree wanted to see you when you woke up. It's an honor. Come." She starts yanking me towards the edge of the woods. I follow with little resistance. I have been clothed and allowed to sleep. The least I can do is meet the magical tree of sewing wonders.

Saria and Mido are the only two that accompany me to meet the Great Deku Tree. I look back once and can see that the other faces are all curious, but none of them make a move to follow. Well, at least I won't have a huge audience when I meet this magical sewing tree of wonders.

I don't know if that should scare me.

I am quiet during the walk to the Great Deku Tree. Surprisingly, so is Saria. Mido does all the talking. He's a bit of brat. He rattles off facts about the Kokiri. It would have been interesting if Mido wasn't such a pompous ass.

"The Kokiri are proud people that have a rich and proud history. We wear the traditional outfit of the great Hylian Hero of Time. In fact, it was he who adopted our rich and wonderful garb, realizing the practicality of our outfits…" and so on.

So I'll run through the highlights.

Apparently the Kokiri are immortal, or at least the next best thing. I'm a little skeptical, but Hyrule would be the place for that type of thing to happen. They all have fairies (those floating light things. If you squint you can see the faint outline of wings), which are almost like twins, and live as long as they do. They live in the Deku Forest but can freely travel the Lost Woods without fear of the magically properties of the woods nor do they need concern themselves with the friendliness of it's residents. They also claim quite a few connections to this "Hero of Time." I have no idea who he is, but it sounds like it's connected to some great Hylian tradition, a fairy tale to which they claim to owe their success.

"Here we are." Mido points to an arch made by the trees entwining together. "Be respectful of the Great Deku Tree. It is an honor to meet him and few-" okay, time to tune him out. Truth be told my curiosity has been piqued.

I step through the arch.

I am standing in a clearing that contains only two things. One of them is the girl. Ganty is what Saria kept calling her. _She's_ not wearing a tunic. Oh no, she's got a good set of trousers on and long sleeve shirt under a leather vest. That means either they like me better, which is doubtful for a whole list of reasons, or she's been here before. I suspect the latter. She also has a scabbard hanging from her belt filled with a slightly curved sword. Her black blue hair is being held back by some pink barets. That's weird. I didn't picture her as a pretty in pink kind of gal.

She's sitting in front of the biggest tree I have ever seen. That is impressive. Almost as impressive as the tree's moustache.

Yes…the tree has a moustache. And eyebrows. And it can sew.

Hyrule is fucking weird.


	16. Chapter 16

AN-Hey, its been while. Sorry, had a ton of homework. C(.)D but it's been handled. Sorry about the bad old english. I know, it's bad. But since you'll forgive me I'm uploading a bunch of chapters today. XD

*************************************

I approach the giant moustache tree in a daze. Does it even have eyes? Can it see me or are the eyebrows just decorative? What the hell?

I almost make it to Ganty before a great booming voice fills the clearing.

"Ah, I see that thou art awake." Does everything in these woods talk? "Who doth thee be?"

"Uh, I'm Link." Today I woke up holding an ocarina I was given in a dream. You would think that my day had already maxed out the amount of weirdness that could possibly happen, yet here I am, introducing myself to a giant tree that has epic facial hair. That little corner of my brain is once again giggling hysterically. Maybe Nasty Looking, well, his name is probably Keif, nope, fuck it, I prefer Nasty Looking, did manage to bump me off and the afterlife is just a fragmented representation of reality. That would be a really handy answer, but my life never seems to be that simple.

"I greet thee Link, and welcome thee to my forest. I beith the Great Deku Tree, guardian of these woods. I must apologize for the manner under which thou did enter my domain, and ensure thee that thou will beith safe for as long as thou doth remain." Can trees be old fashion? Shut up brain! At least it hasn't mistaken me for a girl, and if it has I don't know about it.

The clearing is quiet for a few seconds. Does it want me to answer? Shit, what do you say to a tree? Nice moustache? Shit, my brain is totally going to get me in trouble.

"Thanks for the clothes." Always be polite. Talen would have my hide if he found out I was disrespectful, especially if it was to the tree god of mustaches.

"Thou art welcome." Where is its mouth? "Ganty, I need to ask a favor of thee."

"Okay, shoot." If this is how she treats a tree deity then she might have even been being respectful to me.

The tree keeps its wooden disposition. What? Okay, sorry. I'm having trouble thinking clearly. I'll try to stop, but no promises.

"Ganty, I entreat thee. Thou must carry a message to Princess Zelda. It beith of the greatest urgency. Thou must carry the Forest Essence to princess so that she may giveth it to the Hero of Time. Shadows doth be growing long and only the light given by the Goddesses will cause them to recede."

…Okay then…

Ganty just puts her hands behind her and leans back, as though resting on a tree no one else can see. "Fine. I'm headed that way anyway. I'll pass your Forest Essence onto Princess Zelda. I'll tell her you say hi."

I stare at Ganty. No wonder they kept her doped. It seems like she's someone important. Like knows the daughter of the current reigning Hylian monarch type important. I am so outta my league.

"You look pale. You gonna faint again on me?" It takes me a few seconds to figure out that Ganty is talking to me.

I shrug. "I should be okay." I have no idea how long I slept for but so far I am feeling fine. My nap did me quite a bit of good. I am almost positive I won't faint, but if I said that out loud I bet I'd drop on the spot.

"Should?" Ganty arrives with her disdainful tone.

I shrug again. "Yeah, should. I didn't take enough to do any real damage but I also didn't figure in how a lack of real food and real sleep would affect everything, so it lasted longer than I thought it would. Sorry." There we go. I apologized, so she should be satisfied by now.

Or not. She pins me with another stare, raising her eyebrow. "Take? What are you talking about?"

Inside I sigh. She's one of _those_ people, which means she won't let this go unless I give her a full explanation, with every "t" crossed and every "i" dotted. She is going to give me such a hard time. This sucks. "I poisoned myself with a plant I recognized in the forest. Growing up kids in my neighborhood would slip it into food and give it to each other as a prank." By each other I mean me. "It isn't fatal but it does cause flu like symptoms. Fever, vomiting, dizziness and so forth. But those usually clear up after an hour or so." Except when you need them to. Well, anyway, I'm fine now.

She raises both eyebrows and her mouth hangs slightly open. Her hands drop to her side and she uses them to remain sitting up. "You poisoned yourself?" I nod. I'm pretty certain I just explained that. "_Poison_?" I don't really see where she's having the issue. "That's. That's… That's completely asinine."

I shrug. Well, it worked. Whatever. If she doesn't like it she can go find them again and come up with a new escape plan that fits her idea of "intelligent."

Suddenly I hear the rustling of trees. I think it's the equivalent of a fake cough. I have a feeling that we just managed to make the tree god thing uncomfortable. Now I'll get facial hair."Ganty, thou should leave as soon as thou can. Indeed, time doth be of essence." Yeah…we totally freaked him out. "Saria will provide you with the Forest Essence. Go, and may the Goddesses be with thee." I think we were just dismissed.

Ganty thinks so too. She hops to feet, brushing off her trousers. Without so much as a word she stalks off towards the archway, shaking her head as she passes me.

I turn to follow, then turn back. "Bye. And thanks again for the clothes." Then I run off after Ganty. There is no point in being rude and I really hate leaving a conversation unfinished.

I hear Ganty explaining things to Saria before I even manage pass out of the clearing. Saria beams at me as I enter the path and Mido scowls as he seems wont to do. Her attention quickly passes as she nods solemnly at Ganty. "We will help you be on your way as soon as possible."

**

The Kokiri have their own language. It is a special, magically language that sounds like Common, except the meanings of the words are all confused. For example "as soon as possible" translates roughly into "half a week or so, maybe. If we get around to it."

Not that I'm complaining. I will never admit this out loud but I'm actually having quite a bit of fun.

Saria and Ganty have been in deep discussion for the past few days. It looks like they are longtime friends. Mido also seems to shadow Saria wherever she goes, almost like a second fairy, except he glowers instead of glows.

And that left me alone with the Kokiri ocean.

At first it as really tense. I stared at them and they stared at me. I'm not exactly the best at dealing with new people and I had no idea if they were going to dog pile me or what. I didn't need to worry. The Kokiri are actually pretty cool. In retrospective I bet they were more afraid of me than I was of them. Though they shouldn't have been. They have a deity on their side while my side just consists of me.

In the end they broke the silence. A blond girl with giant puffy pigtails stepped forward. "Hi Link, I'm Fado. Want to play?"

And I did.

Oh come on, it's not like I had anything else I could be doing. Besides, no one asked me if I wanted to join in before. I was enjoying the novelty of the experience. And the Kokiri have some great games. The fairies add a whole new dimension to hide and go seek. Plus they gave me a slingshot. Those things are so cool. We fired nuts at Mido a few times, but I'm not supposed to tell anyone.

So I hadn't really given any thought as to what I would be doing when Ganty left. The forest is magicked so no one else can get in, which means even if there was rescue party they'd never find me here. I don't have a horse or supplies and I am not a seasoned traveler so I don't have much experience. I grew in a city. I can't tell if it's going to rain by the smell or which direction in North by the way moss grows on a tree. Yet I can't stay with the Kokiri forever.

So I'm in a bit of a sulk right now. I've got the ocarina out and just holding it, feeling the smooth, cool, surface. I haven't played it yet, but I find comfort in holding it.

What am I going to do? I want to go home but I don't think I'd make it. Mordred and his team are still out there and they will be pissed. And since they were determined enough to come after me twice expecting them to just give up would require exuberant quantities of naivety that were bashed out of my skull a couple of months ago. Yet I know nothing about Hyrule, and asking to find someone to take me back to Labrynna is just stupid. Plus I don't have anything to pay them with. You don't sell items that get mailed to you from dreamland.

Thwack.

I go flying forward as a boot thumps into my head. Shit! Did the Deku Tree lie? Did the slavers find a way through the barrier?

"Quit moping." Oh, it's just Ganty. "You going to be ready to leave in the morning?"

What? I stare blankly.

Ganty rolls her eyes at me. "Oh come on. Those guys are still out there. Plus I'll need a witness to corraberate my story. If Holodrum is breaking the treaty it's bad news for everyone."

Huh. Okay, that works. But it is the wrong direction…

Ganty reads the hesitation off of my face. "Don't look so worried. I'll help you get back home." She rubs my hair. Why does everyone do that? "After all, I owe you. Now come on, it's time to eat. I don't need a speech from Mido if we're late." She hops up and races back to village, slowing to turn so she can see if I follow.

I sigh and tuck the ocarina back into its pouch. Mido really will bitch. I totter of to go have some food, putting my worries aside for now.


	17. Chapter 17

"So…."

Ganty and I have been walking since we left the Deku Forest yesterday morning. Saria and Mido escorted us to the border of the woods that is closest to Hyrule Castle Town. I think I spotted Fado following us as well. I waved, just to be on the safe side. So we started off towards the capital, on foot with the basic supplies the Kokiri were able to provide us. Some food, (well... nuts and plants, it's more like what food eats but it is better than nothing), water and a bedroll. We both also have swords, her is from whatever stash she had had lying around the forest and mine is still the one I swiped from Leroi. I consider it to be a down payment on what he owes me, and if I see him again I mean to collect the debt in full.

But other than that we just have ourselves. And we have just seen each other. That's right. As of this moment I have seen more Hylians in Lynna than I have in Hyrule.

"Nice weather."

I look up at the sky. It's that depressing blue grey color. Not dark enough for rain but the clouds still too dense for the sun to shine through. It's almost like the sky is sulking. I hate it. But instead I respond, "Uh, sure."

I can see the hard look Ganty is giving me out of the corner of her eye. I have pretty much just given up trying to figure out what she's thinking, though she obviously hasn't done the same for me. Whatever.

"So, how were you captured?" The questions comes a bit out of nowhere, but thinking about it I'm surprised she didn't ask earlier.

I shrug. "I was at work." Stupid fucking Lloyd and his stupid fucking sidekick. "I wasn't paying attention and I was jumped." It's the truth. If I could keep my mind on what's happening in the now instead of continually running off on these internal monologues I'd probably still be serving tables. Shit, I should probably try to keep the conversation going. "You?"

Ganty breaks eye contact, looking away and out to the horizon. Interesting. "Something like that." Silence again.

Okay, if this were the bar and I was trying to talk to a customer what would I do? First I'd quit thinking about how soft her hair was. Second…I guess I'd look for common ground. Hmm, what do we have for common ground?

Oh, found it. "The way you broke Jeeves' nose was really cool."

Ganty's head whips back and she's staring at me again. "Thanks." More silence "Jeeves? Why'd you call him that?"

It's my turn to stare. "Well, 'cause it's his name."

Ganty lets out a silvery laugh. "You managed to catch a few of their names? That's pretty impressive."

I shrug. "I was awake more often then you which is probably the only reason why I got all their names. They weren't exactly careful with what they said. Hell, they even dropped their boss's name a few times. " Plus I work with people. You have to be able to keep track of who ordered what when you work in a bar. Its way easier when you can keep track of who 'who' is to begin with.

Why does she keep staring at me? It is seriously beginning to make me feel uncomfortable, like I have a birthmark I never noticed before. "You caught their employer's name?" She grabs my elbow, leaning in close and forcing me to stop. "Who is he?" she hisses through clenched teeth. I can feel the violence racing though her fingertips.

"Lord Agunim is what they called him."

Ganty lets of a string of curses that would make Talen blush, whirling and kicking at stray rocks on the ground, creating a small cloud of dust where we stand. Well… that's interesting. I guess the name means something to her.

"I take it you know him?"

Ganty takes a deep breath, her dark hair swirling wildly around her face making her eyes glow with intensity. "You can't tell anyone about his involvement. Not until we get behind a couple tons of stone with an army on the outside."

I sigh out loud. I was afraid of that.

The silence returns, hanging over us much like the clouds. Well, I guess I gave Ganty something to think about.

And that's the way our journey goes. Neither of us makes any more effort in resurrecting conversation, plodding along in silence, both of us lost in our own thoughts.

We reach Kakoriko Village just before nightfall. It isn't a moment too soon. I miss town. I grew up in a city, I am used to the noises and the smells. I also miss having a bed that is my size. The Kokiri are very nice but they are short.

Even Ganty looks relieved as we approach the town. It's almost the size of a city. I think its name is a misnomer. I don't care. It has beds. Warm, comfy, full size beds. I feel a little giddy as we approach. It's kind of a big deal. I haven't met any Hylians in Hyrule. I want to know what they're like on their own territory. After I get some sleep. In a bed.

But my bubble of excitement soon evaporates. As we approach we can see that Kakoriko is locked down tighter than a Gerudo's panties, as Sir Rolfus would put it. He really is such an ass. The Gerudo thought so too. I think she broke his nose. It just goes to show that you don't hit on a tribe of women who can kick your ass.

Its tall wooden gates are closed even though the sun isn't down. Guards line the top of the wall. There seem to be two, oh, make that four of them standing up there, each carrying a sword in a sheath and a bow at the ready. I've never been here in my life and even I can see that something bad must have happened to set the city into such a state.

As we approach the bows become even more at the ready, arrows knocked and pointing at us. I think Ganty notices, but I can't be sure. She doesn't even miss a stride, walking up to the gate as though she owns the place.

"Hail! I humbly ask permission for myself and my companion to enter the city, and would indeed ask as to why the fine citizens of Kakoriko would bar its doors." Wait. That sounded a lot like Ganty being… polite. Maybe she won't get us shot.

The response takes a few seconds, mostly because they are picking a spokes person. "I'm sorry Miss." The speaker is an older man, by the sound of it a bit of a farmer. "Orders are no one passes in or out. There's been a bit of an incident and we have to keep this place locked down." Oh come on. This is not happening. I am so close to having a real bed.

"Sir, I beg thee, let us in. We are weary and have traveled far. Both my companion and I need supplies and would do well with a good nights rest." Go Ganty go!

Theres a bit of talking up on the wall. They're keeping their voices fairly quiet though. "I'm sorry Miss. Orders are orders." Well dammit.

Ganty softens her voice, making herself sound feminine and vunerable. Nice. She's a good act. I'll have to remember that. "Oh please sir. We're hungry and our food is low. The plains are scary at night, and filled with monsters. Please. Please let us in." A little tear fills her voice in that last sentence. That has got to have worked.

More talking from up on the wall. Several voices rise to audible levels.

"Are you sure we can't let her in? She seems sincere enough." That gets me a little and I have to choke back a snort.

"Orders are orders. We can't risk the enemy entering our domain."

"Enemy? It's just a girl. And she's pretty hot."

"We canno-"

Wait a minute. I know that voice. It can't be… "Drayfus?!"

The conversation stops. I hear a tentative response. "Link?"

Oh thank the Goddesses! A bed for me! "Drayfus, quit fucking ogling us and open the gate!" I hear scrambling and swearing at the top of the wall. Slowly the door opens.

Ganty turns to stare at me again. "You are just full of surprises."

I grin at her. "I know. I'm fun that way."


	18. Chapter 18

We stride through the gate.

My first impression of a Hylians city was this; Huh, it's just like Lynna. It's true for the most part. It's got buildings and people and everyone is dressed and no one is using magic to set shit on fire. There are men and women and children staring at us, but more because we opened the gate than anything else.

Drayfus falls from the sky, rolling as he hits the ground and using the moment to rise and keep rushing at me. I'm expecting a "why the hell are you here?" as soon as he arrives so I start prepping my answer.

"Holy shit Link are you alright?" Not what I was expecting. Drayfus snags my hand and pulls in close, lifting my arm, examining my palm. I think he's checking for injury.

"I'm fine Drayfus, but we are tired." At the use of "we" Drayfus re-notices my companion. Up this close I can see him noting her humanity. Then he drops my arm and swaggers over to her, flashing his seducer's smile and grabs her hand, kneeling before her. "Why hello Miss," he croons in honey sweet tones. "If there is anything at all you need I will make sure you have it."

Ganty flashes him a hard stare. "I need you to never touch me again." Oh snap! I wonder if that smile of his has ever actually worked. He steps back as though he has been stung, but maintaining his smile. Hey, if you watch his eyes you can see what he's actually thinking! They're wary right now. "I also need a bed to sleep in. A single bed."

Drayfus just gives a sharp nod. "I can set the both of you up on the inn. And before you sleep I'll make sure you get a good meal." He turns to me and drops his smile for a few moments, I think in attempt to convey his seriousness. "Are you sure you're okay? The last thing I need is you dropping dead on me."

I just nod. Then something niggles in my mind. "Uh, Drayfus, why are you here?" He was Lynna not long ago. Don't tell me the humans really fell for the "It was us. –Hiruel." routine.

Drayfus's magic smile is back in full swing. "I will tell you about it over supper. Now lets go get you two cleaned up." He waves at the guards on the top of the wall. As we walk down the streets of Kakoriko the closing of the gate echos through out the city.

Something about Kakoriko is bugging me. I can't put my finger on it but there is definitely something here that is different. Maybe if I stop trying to figure it out it will just come to me.

Drayfus gives me the speel for newcomers as we walk down the street. Ganty ignores him. I have a sneaking suspicion that she's been here before. "This is Kakorio Village, the city that is only second in size to our nation's capital, Hyrule Castle Town. The name is actually a representation of tradition, when Kakoriko was only a village yet withstood the power's of darkness to harbour and aid the Hero of Time." There's that legend again. Everyone talks about it as though it were a historical fact. "This city was also originally the home of the Sheikans, but they have actually moved to Ikana in order to preserve they're way of life as Hylian and human expansion happens across the continent." He stops briskly. "Ah, here we are."

I look up at the sign. The Drunken Keese*. Nice. I hope this place isn't a _total_ dive. I run my tongue quickly over my teeth. Drayfus steps through the door and Ganty follows. I sigh and enter as well.

Well, this is a surprise. The interior is actually pretty nice. The furniture seems to actually be carved of cherry wood, giving the entire place this warm gooey feeling. The place seems to be pretty empty with two or three small groups. I guess they wouldn't be getting much for new people with the gates shut so tight.

Drayfus approaches the innkeeper, smiling casually. "Hey gorgeous, I need a bigger room. Something that will fit three people."

The innkeeper arches an eyebrow. "Why the hell should I do anything for you Drayfus? Maybe I'm full, totally booked for the night. Did you ever think of that?" I look around the room. Totally booked? Riiiiight.

Drayfus keeps on smiling. "Seriously, I need another room. I'll pay you double for it. I found some friends who need a place tonight." He waves her eyes towards Ganty and I.

They narrow when they reach over to me. "Boy, you Hylian or Human?" Good question.

"Human."

"Hylian."

Ganty and Drayfus's voices overlap. They glare at each other for a few seconds then Ganty starts in on Drayfus. "How the Hell could you think he's a human?"

"Well, cause he is. His Dad's human."

"Link is _not_ a human, at least no more than you are." She snorts.

"Link is totally a human."

This is going to take a while. I can hear Ganty and Drayfus arguing in the back as I turn to the innkeeper. "Does it really matter?"

She sniffs and shakes her head. "Nope, I was just curious. You look Hylian but you carry yourself like a human." And that's when it hits me. Kakoriko has humans running around. It's a mixed city. The innkeeper is a human. Well that's kind of cool.

She distracts my mental leap. "The room is yours. It's right across from Drayfus' other rooms." She slips me a key. " It's got two double beds. It's the best I can do. Feel free to stab Drayfus if he causes your friend any trouble."

I feel a grin split my face. I like the innkeeper. And then my hat is pulled from my head and Ganty is pulling on my ears. "See? Not Human." Ow ow ow. "How could you think otherwise?"

Drayfus gives me a wide-eyed look. I think he's genuinely shocked. "Link, I think you have an interesting back story that needs sharing." I can hear the edge in his voice. It grates like a saw. He's pissed.

I shoot him a tentative smile, knowing it looks ridiculous with Ganty still pulling on my ear. "I have the room key."

Drayfus snatches it and stalks off, muttering darkly to himself. I don't really care that he's mad. I didn't lie to him about it. I might have mislead him a bit, but I didn't lie. But I do care about what Ganty just did. I catch her elbow as she moves to follow Drayfus. "I want my hat back."

She smiles wolfishly. "Here you go. Thanks for the loan." Then she skips off to follow Drayfus. That's right, she skips. I think she's only happy when she's upset someone. Well, better him than me.

The room is on the second floor, up a cramped and twisty flight of stairs. However, the room itself is spacious, containing two large beds pushed up against opposite walls, pointing toe to toe towards each other, yet leaving more than enough room to walk between them without disturbing the sleepers.

At the end of the room is one of those bench window seats. On either side of that, pushed against the wall is two washstands made of cherry wood just like the dining room. Sitting on top of them are metal bowls and water pitchers. It's a nice room. I like the symmetry of the décor.

Ganty likes the bed on the left. She pushes past Drayfus and flops on to it. A muffled, "Mine!" tells me where I will be sleeping tonight. I guess I wasn't the only one excited by the idea of bed.

Drayfus sits on the other bed. I just lean back against the wall. It's one of those "so close yet so far" moments. There are questions to be asked before the night is done.

Because I'm tired I decide to hurry the process. Drayfus will sit making faces and ho-humming all night if it's up to him, while Ganty might just fall asleep. "So, why are you here Drayfus? Your business in Lynna all wrapped up?"

Drayfus lets out a little chuckle. See? Theatrics everywhere. He leans back and crosses his boot across his lap. "Well, actually I'm still on the job. Thanks for tip about Ambi." He smiles conspiringly. Why can't he just explain shit. The suspense is annoying me. "She said she'd be willing to reestablish ties to Hyrule if Hyrule did her a favor." He starts giving me eyes. Oh, for fuck's safe. Get on with it! "Someone snagged one of her subjects and if Hyrule was able to find him she agreed to open trade." He smiles as though he's got some huge secret.

Fuck it. "So now that you've found me what do you plan to do?"

Drayfus deflates a little. Ganty props herself up on her elbows. "You work for Queen Ambi?" She sounds a little surprised.

"Uh, no." I'm not that important. "I just grew up in Lynna. My Dad worked for her back in the day."

Ganty shakes her head. "Wait a minute. How the hell did a Hylian end up growing up Labrynna's capital city?" I think she understands Drayfus' earlier confusion a little better. "Wouldn't they burn you or something?"

I grin. I know my smile is a little bitter. Whatever. "I was adopted. My Dad was a knight back in the day so he could get away with shit like that." I think she's waiting for a bit more explanation than that, but that's the story. There isn't really anything else to say.

She shoots me a look of quizzical confusion. "Wait. That means you're just a nobody."

I nod. I don't see why she is so confused. I never claimed to be important.

"Well, you're a somebody right now. You are the sole reason for Hyrule and Labrynna to form an alliance." Puh-lease. More like a something. And I'm not the reason for an alliance, just the pretense under which the common folk will accept the decision. "Which means I need to get you to Hyrule Castle Town. Your Dad and some of Queen Ambi's knights should already be there."

Huh? "Talen's in Hyrule?"

Drayfus nods, taking delight in being able finally to surprise somebody today. "Yes, he insisted on coming himself. We followed your trail but lost it in the Deku Forest. There was nothing else we could do. Iya thought it was best to go directly to King Reijjis and Princess Zelda. I was left here to secure the city and ensure that if whomever took you approached they would not take anyone else." He manages to look serious for a few seconds. "Glad to see you are still alive."

"Thanks. Me too."

Then he's back to the grin. This time it resembles more of a leer. "So, it looks like we'll be sleeping together tonight."

I push away the darker memories that arise at his little joke. It's going to be a long night.

**

*I seem to be getting a lot of people who haven't played the games or read the manga so I'll try to remember to explain game terminology when it arises.

A keese is a monster that is pretty much a small bat black.


	19. Chapter 19

It's been a long night.

Drayfus is a heavy sleeper. He tosses and he turns and ever time he bumps me I wake up that much more. So I'm pretty much balanced on my side on three inches of bed, hoping that Drayfus will quit fucking touching me.

Nights are actually pretty rough in general. Ganty falls asleep quick so I don't have worry about her noticing, but I just can't sleep. I don't want to wake confused again, not knowing where I am or if I' m safe. I don't want to wake up in pain or tied up. I'm tired of people trying to kill me, or worse, and evening knowing why. I am tired of being bruised, battered and broken. And I'm homesick.

Drayfus snorts and rolls, his arm landing across my chest. Hell no. I roll out of the bed, my bare feet landing softly of the floor. I'm still dressed, except for my boots, which are resting by the door. It's not like I'm carrying a nightshirt and Ganty refused to sleep in the same room with anyone who is naked. Body parts would go flying.

I creep towards the door only stopping to grab my sword and my hat, which are both hanging from the bedpost and I silently slip out into the hallway. No one else is there, not that I expected them to be. I slide down the stairs into the main room. There are still a few people up, talking and drinking the night away. I guess it isn't even that late. We retired pretty early as far as these things go. Ganty and I had spent the past few days just walking.

I watch as the innkeeper brings a tray of entrees and drinks towards one of the tables. It's balanced wrong and she isn't exactly a big woman. Truth be told she's pretty tiny and very thin. She stumbles a bit and the tray tilts dangerously. I catch it before gravity gets a hold on it.

"Thanks," the innkeeper huffs it a bit and goes to take it back.

I hold it out of her reach. "It's okay, just tell me who gets what."

She looks skeptical but points out who gets what order. The drinks are all the same so I can't mix them up. I head over and serve the table, then take the tray back to the counter where the innkeeper is standing. She looks impressed. "Done this before?"

I shrug. "I work in a bar."

She accepts that answer with a beam. "I'm Anju." She holds her hand out. I take it. She has a firm handshake steeped in precision. I like it. "Thanks for the help. We're a little short handed because my husband Kafei is in the capital for a few days."

"I'm Link. And no problem. I can't sleep so I'd be happy to help out in any way I can."

She looks horrified at the idea. "You're a guest! I couldn't make you do anything like that."

"It seriously wouldn't be any problem. I have nothing else to do anyway." She still looks flustered. I take her hands in mine and look her in the eye. "Please."

I don't what she sees on my face but the look she gives me next is so tender it reminds me of the Great Fairy in my dream. That surprises me a bit. I don't think I look fragile. Either way it works. "Okay," she says it so softly. "Okay you can help."

So I spend the next three hours helping Anju. She appreciates the company. I guess it's been lonely without her husband here to help. He left for Hyrule to do some trading and is swinging through this place called Lon Lon Ranch to pick up some ingredients as well as try to talk the guy who runs the place into making deliveries to Kakoriko as well as the capital. He's not due back for another week. He took a donkey but its to carry supplies, not to ride, which why its been taking him so long.

And apparently Kafei is Hylian. Their relationship caused a bit of a stir when they married. Even though Kakoriko is a mixed city it doesn't mean everyone automatically gets along. But people got over it this time. I can see why they would. Anju seems like a sweet girl and I think all but the most hardened hearts would be swayed by her joy. She just glows when she talks about Kafei. It's really sweet.

I can feel my mood lifting quit a bit. I think part of that comes just from being in a familiar environment. There's something soothing about doing dishes, even if these ones are clay work instead of wood. It makes me feel, at least a little anyway, like I'm home and the world is a normal place.

It's too soon when the last customer leaves. Apparently she gets a lot of local traffic, hence why this place hasn't shut down despite the closed gates.

"Alright, time for bed!" Anju claps her hands together with the announcement. She looks tired. I guess she's going to have to be up early again for when the Drunken Keese opens. "Thank you again for your help. If you need anything I'm your woman." She winks at me.

I laugh. "Night Anju. And if my pillows need fluffing I'm sure I can handle it myself."

"Okay. Oh, and if you do stab Drayfus try to make sure you don't get blood everywhere." I laugh again. I like Anju. She's really easy going. And tired. Black circles are beginning to form under her eyes.

"Okay. Minimal amounts blood. Understood. I'll head to bed as soon as I finish tidying up here." There are still quite a few dishes. Anju is behind on her house chores. This place is big job for just one person. She looks as though she is about to protest. "Seriously, it will make me feel better. I hate leaving a job half done. My Dad says I'm a perfectionist like that." Okay, so that's a lie. But it will make her feel better about letting me do her dishes, and frankly I'm feeling a little neurotic tonight. "Go to bed," I urge gently.

She budges, leaving me alone in the kitchen. I know how much the help means to her, and just being in this environment really is calming me down. I run my tongue over my teeth. I've been stressed out lately, though under the circumstances it is hardly surprising. So I dawdle over the dishes, doubling the length of time the chore should take. I know that when I get back to the room I am going to have to try and carve out a place to sleep. Or maybe I'll just take the window bench thing. It's cushioned and it's solitary.

I nod to myself as I put away the last plate. That's a good idea. It should work nicely. And if I'm asked about it I can just say I woke up early and didn't want to disturb anyone. I must have dozed off again. Something like that.

I blow out the candle and slowly make my way through the darkened restaurant, using my hand to guide me to the stairway. It's partially lit from the candles up stairs. Anju leaves them burning so people like me don't kill ourselves and wake up the rest of the inn.

As I reach the top I'm surprised to see a figure in the hall. It, well he, must have heard me because he whirls around, his face plastered in friendly feelings and a story as to why he's up so late and out of bed plastered to his lips. But the story dies when recognition dawns.

Uh, wow.

It's Leroi.


	20. Chapter 20

I stare at him. That corner of my brain starts laughing hysterically again. Just after I managed to calm myself down my nightmare manifests itself. This is getting to be ridiculous. Nobody's luck is this bad.

Except mine, I guess.

Leroi gets over his shock and hisses at me. Then he leers. I guess he's still pissed about our last encounter. And oh look, he got a new sword and it's pointed straight at me. For him this has got to seem like the Goddesses are smiling down on him.

At least this time I have a sword too. It's his, but I have it. Thank the Goddesses for that. I have more than a snowball's chance in Death Mountain of not mutliated this time.

I draw it, watching Leroi closely. He's doing the same to me. The silence stretches out for feels like forever. Then the world explodes into action.

Leroi rushes me and I parry. It would have been all well and good. He doesn't have much room to swing in the little hallway and I'm pretty good at blocking. It would have been okay.

Except that I was standing in front of a flight of stairs.

The impact of the blow caused me retreat a step. A step that didn't exist. I go tumbling down the stairs and end up sliding down the steps mostly on my back. I manage to not stab myself with my sword as I slide down though I do smash my right shoulder on a corner as I go. I yell out in pain, though it doesn't feel like the bone has broken.

I just lay at the bottom of the stairs for few seconds. I really need to stop get injured.

I hear Leroi's boots as he plods down the steps. Shit, out of time. I roll painfully to my feet, feeling a twinge of guilt as I use my sword to stand, leaving a gouge in Anju's floor. Well, under the circumstances I'm sure she'll get over it. I stagger my way to a table, leaning on it to recover as much strength as possible when Leroi's boots sound at the bottom of the stairs. I can here the harsh rasping of his breath in the stillness of the darkness.

I hold still, hoping my breathing is quiet enough that he can't here me. I can see a faint outline of my opponent from the faint light filtering down the stairs. He's perfectly still, his head cocked to one side. The silence stretches on, filling the darkness.

It is broken when Leroi takes a step forward. The floor creaks softly under his heavy boot. My breath catches in my throat. He stepped forward far enough that not even his outline is visible. Shit. All that I can really do is hold still. Lunging at him in this room, especially when I don't know where he is, would be beyond daft.

I hear the rustle of clothing on my right. What the hell is Leroi up to?

A blast of light answers my question. Apparently Leroi a lighter.* I can see him perfectly only two tables away, leaning up against the wall. He spots me and grins evilly. I think the bastard is enjoying this.

He rushes me, the lighter going out in the quick motion of the air. I drop to the ground and roll, knocking over chairs as I go. I scramble to my feet, using my hands to guide me to a table. Sliding along with a half baked plan I set my sword on the table gently and place both of them on the back of a nearby chair.

I can here the tip of a sword scraping the ground, probing for a body lying on the floor. Come on, I'm not that stupid. Of course I'm not there.

The scraping soon ceases. I tense, at the ready. Once again a small light cuts through the darkness. His back is mostly towards me. Thank the Goddesses for pointy ears. I wait until he begins to turn, obviously looking for me.

I throw the chair at him. Adrenaline pumps through me, soothing the burning ache in my shoulder. As the chair sails through the air I grab my sword and dash towards Leroi. He swings an arm to block the projectile, the lighter going out once again. I hear it skitter across the floor as the chair lands in pieces.

I slice into the shadows. My sword rings as it hits Leroi's. He must have seen my charge. Our swords grate against each other in the darkness, neither of us will to pull, to risk losing our opponent in the night.

But Leroi is larger than me, taller then me, stronger than me, and I slowly find myself being pushed backwards. My right shoulder is beginning to give out under the pressure of his blade. I have to do something to turn the tide.

I take another step back, relieving a little of the pressure. Then I stomp on his foot, driving my feel into his toes. The pressure eases a bit more as he grunts. I take my right hand off my sword, using it to punch him in the gut. It's a glancing blow, nowhere near his sternum, but it does enough damage. His grunt becomes a yelled curse in the night and our swords disengage. I swing with the flat of the sword, approximating where his head should be.

I am rewarded by the wet smack of flesh and a ringing impact up my arm. Leroi crashes to the ground with a cacophony of sound. I think he tips a table as he falls. I sigh in relief. I am so tired of people trying to kill me after sunset.

Then a hand grabs my leg. Shit. I fall backwards as the grip pulls my foot forward, smashing the back of my head against the furniture.

Swirls of light fill my vision. Focus, Link, focus. I try to bring my sword up but instead find my hand empty. I must have dropped it as I fell. Not good! I try to roll over, at least get to my knees so I can search for my blade, but as I twist onto my bad shoulder my body collapses in pain.

Before I have the opportunity to try again I am once again discovered by Leroi's sweaty grip. The hands climb up my legs and I can feel Leroi's weight pinning me to the floor. I start swinging with my dominant hand, wriggling and trying to get free. My blows are ineffectual, he doesn't even grunt as I hammer on his shoulder. I can feel panic filling me like acid.

Then his fingers wrap gently, almost tenderly around my neck. I know what's coming. Part of my mind imagines it can hear Nasty Looking laughing somewhere in the night. And then they squeeze.

I keep hitting him, but all he does is tighten his grip. I can feel the blood getting trapped in my head. My lungs burn with the need for air, for release. I wind up and shoot my left fist straight into the darkness, connecting with some portion face. But instead of releasing he shifts. He catches my wrist and pins it to the floor, leaning forward so he continues to strangle me with one hand.

Fuck, I'm screwed. After all the effort I have put into surviving these bloody attacks I'm going to die here? Fuck that. I try to force my body to turn, trying to push myself with my right arm. I mine as well be trying to build a house out of butter in the middle of summer. My lungs are screaming for air and my mind is sliding into a now familiar blankness. I reach desperately with my right hand, looking for something, anything that can help me.

They wrap around something smooth and hard. I swing the object, not even caring what it is. It sinks deep into flesh and Leroi's grip dissolves as he rolls off of me. As he does I feel hot water droplets rain down upon me. At first I think he's spitting.

I here a slurping noise and it takes me a few seconds for me to understand that it's Leroi breathing. The slurping noise soon slows, and the last sound I hear from Leroi is the soft bubble of liquid.

It takes even longer for the reality of to sink in. I think I killed him. By Din I really think I did. Oh shit, oh shit, oh SHIT! I killed somebody! Numbness races through me as I start to hyperventilate. I draw up into a little ball, placing my head on my knees. I don't want to be here, doing this anymore. Vaguely I feel streaks of heat run down my face. I guess I must have split the skin on my scalp.

I sit there in the dark, trembling and holding my knees. The only heat I feel is pouring from a wound in my head.

*******

*Which was invented before the match.


	21. Chapter 21

I have another story up. It's finished so it won't distract me from writing this one. I just needed to write something else because I am having an epically bad day. I edited this chapter but I didn't do it closely so please forgive the speeling errors and such. I am having a REALLY REALLY bad day.

***

"What in Sacred Realms happened here?!" I hear the voice but it seems far away, too distant to bother answering. "Look at this mess! How am I going to…" the voice just fades off. It must have been father than I thought.

Steps echo throughout the room. I feel pressure and heat on my jaw. "..ink? Link? Link, answer!" The voice still sounds distant, but somehow familiar. The hand is warm at least. I still feel pretty cold.

"Drayfus! Drayfus I need you! Get down here now!" I wince. Even far away the voice sounds loud. Then it softens again and starts whispering softly. I feel the pressure wrap itself around my body, encircling me in heat. How did I get so cold? I feel myself shivering in the embrace.

"Anju, what the hell is wrong?"

"It's Link. I think he's hurt! Drayfus, there's blood everywhere. There is a body on my floor!"

"By Din! Link? Link, can you hear me?" Yes, I can. I just don't really care right now.

"Let me through." I think that's Ganty. The embrace is pulled away and is replaced by fleeting touches. They don't help keep me warm but I do find them soothing. "I think he's in shock." I'm not shocked, I'm cold. It's different. "He's lost quite a bit of blood as well." Well, it shouldn't be too hard to find so I don't see what the problem is. "Anju, I need to get some me a drink, something with a lot of sugar in it. Drayfus, I need you to carry him to the room. We have to get him warm."

I wince as I am lifted from the ground. My knees ache. That's the only feeling besides the cold; the pain. It eases a bit when I'm set onto a bundle of clouds. I feel like I'm floating. I here the voices talking over me, but their drifting away…

**

I feel warm, pleasantly and comfortably warm. I snuggle deeper into the blanket. I feel safe right now. I know that feeling is an illusion, but I want to hold onto it anyway, even if it is for just a few moments.

I stretch out my arms, which are beginning to fall asleep. They brush against something soft. Wait, I've touched this before…

And I'm rolling out of bed again. I overbalance, landing on my rear instead of toes. Pain shoots up my back and I clutch at my shoulder, hissing in silent agony. I'm still in my tunic, but with close examination I notice that it is peppered with rusty brown stops. The smell of copper reaches my nose and I go a little paler.

A face peeks over the edge of the bed. "So I see you're awake," Ganty notes wryly. She's lying on her stomach, waggling her legs. She looks rather normal in that position, making it more difficult to believe that she really is venomous. "So…you had quite the night."

I chuckle darkly. The chuckle bursts into an all out hysterical laugh. Soon I am clutching my sides and can feel tears forming in the corner of my eyes. Setting my face in my hands I take several deep, calming breaths. "I killed him Ganty," my voice comes out hoarse and shaky, "and if I hadn't he would have killed me, or worse." But that doesn't make me feel better. I laugh derisively. "I can't even go up the stairs without people I don't know trying to kill me. And I wrecked Anju's inn." Everything I touch turns to shit.

"Hey now. Don't do that." In a flash Ganty is on her knees in front of me, her forehead touching mine, whispering compassionately. "You did what you had to do. I know that. You know that. The Goddesses know that." I feel her arms resting on my shoulders. "I recognized who he was, Link." Her body trembles from the shivers that run through me. "You didn't have a choice. And Anju's just glad you're okay. Now come on, we need to wash you up and get some food in you. I'll have Anju draw you a bath." Ganty gets up then kneels down again, placing a cup in my hands. "Drink this. You'll feel better after you do."

Whatever it is it smells divine. I sip it as Ganty slips out of the room. My mouth floods with sweetness. I savor the taste before swallowing the mouthful. Ganty was right. After only a few drinks my shaking begins to subside and the hollow feelings in my chest begin to fill.

I'm draining the last dregs of the cup when Ganty comes in. "Bath's ready. Come on and we'll get you cleaned up." She takes the cup from me, and then grabs my hand, pulling me to my feet. I'm surprised when she doesn't let go. Ganty isn't a touchy person.

She leads me into the hallway, but instead of going down stairs I'm lead to another room at the end of the corridor. It's a small room containing a chair that has towels stacked on it, a full-length mirror hanging on the wall, a bucket and a large metallic basin full of steaming water.

"Okay, now take off your tunic and get in the tub." I shoot Ganty a look. "I'll turn around, but I need to get it to Anju so she can wash it." I stare at her until she spins, snarling to herself about my maiden temperament. Well, if people would quit mistaking me for a girl maybe I wouldn't guard my chastity like one.

I start fumbling with my tunic. My belts, the one for my sword and the one with my ocarina, must have been removed earlier. I draw the shirt to my shoulders before I hit a snag. Life is never easy. "Ganty?"

"What? There is no way you are in the tub already. What's the hold up?" Annoyance colors her voice.

I mumble.

"Link, I can't here you when you mumble. Speak up or hurry up." Why is Ganty so bipolar? There's no help for it I guess.

I sigh. "I can't get my shirts off."

She spins, arching an eyebrow. "You what now?" She just sounds baffled instead of disgusted.

"I can't get my shirts off."

"For Farore's sake!" Ganty marches over to me and grabs the hems of both the shirts and just reefs on them. I hiss as my arms are forced over my head, bending as best I can to help get this done with. I stumble back a bit as the neckline is finally forced over my head and spin a bit, catching myself on the side of the tub.

I hear Ganty's sharp inhale. "By the Triforce Link!" I feel her hands running along my back. "What the hell happened last night?" I wince as her fingers probe my back gently.

I turn my head and manage to catch a view of myself in the mirror. I look like a monster from an old wives tail. My back is a mass of bruises with my right shoulder being the epicenter; the color so black that it likes the midnight sky has taken up residence on it. My normally "golden" hair is now streaked with an ugly brown. My pale skin is almost translucent where it shows, but is mostly hidden by the ugly brown flakes covering my face. Wow, I have a lot of blood. My neck is also a mass of bruises, the gold chain shining like a rainbow after the storm.

"Link, what did he do to you?" She sounds horrified. I do look horrific. That's probably the best descriptor. Horrific. Horrifying. Horrible. Horrid. Ah damn, I'm out of words.

So I'll answer the question. "He did try to strangle me." Just like Nasty Looking. What's with slavers and suffocation, really? "I also fell down the stairs." I know, I should blame Leroi. It's not like he can rat me out, but I just can't come up with a story right now.

"Wow, you have really bad luck." That's what I've been saying. "Here, I'll help you get out of these pants." What?

"Oh come on," Ah shit, I must have spoken out loud. "I've seen you naked before." Double what? "With the Kokiri. Did you really think Saria stripped you?"

Touché. And truth be told I'm too sore right now to really care.

It still feels like forever before I make it into the tub. But when I finally do it feels like heaven.


	22. Chapter 22

I know I look awful even after the bath. I needed neither my reflection nor Anju's horrified gasp to tell me that, though they did reinforce the knowledge. My normally pale skin is more translucent than anything. That of course is only in the places where it isn't bruised. Ganty found me a white button up dress shirt to wear. I was able to put it on without help, so that's one plus but the drawback is that it makes the bruises look even darker. But it is better than limping around half naked. Ganty also managed to find a sling for my arm.

Anju's dining room needs a bit of love after my late night skirmish. The floor has a giant russet stain and a few matching ones of lesser sizes. I didn't have to ask anyone to figure out the large one was left by Leroi. A few of the regular customers came, helped clean up, moved the tables and moved the body. I don't know where to, I don't care, as long as I don't have to see it.

But I still heard the whispers. The object I found, the one I hit, stabbed, Leroi with was a piece of chair. Leg by the sounds of it. I drove it right through his neck. He suffocated in his own blood. It's pretty gruesome stuff.

I'm still feeling a little horrified over the incident. Rationalizing what happened has helped quite a bit but there is still this part of me that is numbed by having killed someone. I was never really trained to do that sort of thing. The worst type of violence I am supposed to regularly inflict is throwing someone out a door. Out and not through. But part of me also feels a little better. A "one down" attitude I guess. I would love to say that the fight made me confident in my abilities to protect myself, but honestly I know that a lot of what transpired was luck, and the good just happened to outweigh the bad. And it really was gruesome.

Which is why we are already halfway to Hyrule Castle Town. I guess the theory is I'm harder to kill when I'm moving. But just in case we also have an escort. Apparently Drayfus has clout and lots of it. I keep forgetting that he works directly for the reigning Hylian Monarch. He reassigned five of the Kakoriko city guard to bodyguard services, including the old farmer type that Ganty and I met at the get. Says his name is Jai. He seems to be a pretty cool guy. He even apologized for not opening the gate sooner. I think I like him.

I miss my tunic. Hey, it's comfy alright? It's in one of the packs, all washed and ready to go. But I don't know which one. Not that I can wear it anyway. I still can't get my arms above my head. At least I have the cap. It fell off when I took my jaunt down the stairs so it didn't even need washing. It's resting pretty comfortably on my head overtop the bandage that Ganty wrapped around my skull.

I wince as my horse stumbles a bit. It's been a few days and I'm still really sore. The bruises are finally lightening into that sickly pale green around the edges but I still can't use my arm without serious regret. I think it's the same one I sprained last time. At least I'm consistent.

Ganty rides up beside me. It's a little surprising. She's been off by herself for most of the trip. I think she's thinking deep thoughts and all that.

"You okay?" I guess I'm dealing with nice Ganty today. Okay, I'm not being fair. She's not that bad. I think finding civilization has helped de-stress her or something. All I know is that she hasn't been tearing my head off for the last few days.

"Sure." I nod but the effect is ruined by another wince.

She laughs instead of calling me on it. "So hey, I was wondering about that necklace you have. It's pretty. Where'd you get it?"

I shrug but my hands fingers the pendant through my shirt. "It was my Mom's." I think Ganty is trying to comfort me, or at the very least distract me from my latest bought of melancholy. Well, maybe chatting will help. "She died when I was little and this is all I have of hers."

"I'm sorry to hear that." She sounds genuine.

"It's okay. I never knew her. You can't miss what you never had." Ganty pins me with another one of her piercing stares. I am getting sick of these. I shrug it off. "Talen's a really nice guy. He raised me: him and Mari. He had a bunch of his friends teach me how to use a sword and when I got old enough I helped him in the bar. For being an orphan that's a pretty fortunate fate, especially in Labrynna." If Lloyd's mum had found me… I shudder a bit on the inside and run my tongue over my teeth.

"I bet being a Hylian in Labrynna must have been a difficult life."

"I don't know. I've never been anything else." It could have been easier I guess, but if you really think about it things just would have been different, Hylian or not. I still would have been an orphan, which means I still would have been different. And I always had enough food and a bed to sleep in. Besides I think the worst fate out there is growing up to be like Lloyd.

Ganty nods with approval. I guess she's down with the show no pain attitude. She looks a little distant right now. Maybe she's thinking about her own youth. Well if she wants to talk about it she'll tell me.

We ride for a while in silence for a while. Not one of those awkward silences but a calm and restful silence. Then Ganty decides to have another go at conversation.

"So this is really your first time visiting Hyrule?" I nod. "Sorry about the sucky circumstances."

The smile that splits my face is soon followed by a laugh. I'm beginning to like Ganty. She's not so bad once you get past the scary part. "I guess these are less than ideal conditions for vacationing," to say the very least. Then I frown, my tone going serious. "I just wish I knew why they were after me."

Ganty raises an eyebrow. "Maybe you're special."

Drayfus spins his he head to see why I'm roaring with laughter. After I finally manage to catch my breath I wipe tears from eyes, tears that are partly from laughter and partly from pain. "I'm not special Ganty."

She fixes me with that look again. "You never know Link. You never know."


	23. Chapter 23

Hyrule Castle Town is definitely a misnomer.

My first view of the city was from a hilltop when we were still at least an hour's ride. The city is enshrined in pristine white walls that seem to rise out of the very earth in order to cup the city in its palm. Even from there I could make out the little stems of smoke coming from the buildings within. Above that is the Castle Grounds. It must be resting on hill because it swells above the rest of the city with apparent ease. It glows with the same shine of the walls, spiky white arrows jutting towards to heavens. Even from there it was impressive.

Which means that right here, standing right outside those glistening walls, it is positively daunting. From my first view I missed the moat that runs around the city, which is also more than impressive. The only visible entrance is a drawbridge that is currently lowered. The dark wood is a startling contrast to the gleam of the city walls.

I'm surprised to still feel the same tension that has Kakoriko at a standstill, though I guess I shouldn't be. And it is less. The drawbridge is down and the grate has not been lowered, but there are guards ready to change that at a moments notice. Well, at least it wouldn't surprise me if there were. The entrance is being visible guarded by two men, so it's logical to assume that there are reinforcements within a reasonable distance. A reasonable distance amounting to shouting distance.

The leader of the pair waves our party to a stop. He's a fairly typical Hylian, at least from what I've seen. He's got light brown and has few inches on me. But he definitely has the facial features with the pixie angles.

Drayfus dismounts and walks up to the guy. I'm sorta surprised he's handling this. I thought Ganty would. Then again I don't actually know if Ganty told Drayfus that she's an important person in Hyrule. I also don't know why Ganty is so important. How the heck did she end up working for the Princess of Hyrule? There has got to be a story behind that that is worth listening to.

Drayfus whispers a bit to the guard, who waves his hands dramatically but manages to keep his voice low. I can't hear anything they are talking about but whatever it does seems to be doing the trick. The guard looks pretty relaxed and Drayfus is tossing that smile of his around like a registered weapon. Soon we get waved in.

As we cross the drawbridge into the city I am able to pick up the faint noises of the city. Despite the tension the entire place seems very celebratory. I can here music drifting faintly over the chatter of the streets and the rustling of armor.

Armor? Guards condense out of thin air. Looks like Drayfus sweet-talked the guard into beefing up our escort.

It's weird riding the horses through Castle Town, especially with an escort. Ganty and I get shoved in the middle, with Drayfus and Jai leading, plus two foot soldiers at the front and two at the end. I know it makes us look at least slightly important… at least, I hope that's why people are staring. The crowd is making me uncomfortable. It's bothering Ganty as well. She keeps playing with her hair, making sure it hangs over her ears. Huh. I thought if she was important she'd be comfortable in this city. Then again I don't see any humans in the crowd. I guess Castle Town isn't as friendly as Kakoriko.

But it is beautiful. Most of the buildings are made of stone and have been well kept. The streets are cobbled and clean and the air smells of baked goods. Colorful signs and banners mark shops and their goods while merchants hawk their wares. Children are laughing and playing in the roads and women are gossiping while men swap bullshit (which is code for gossiping).

We pass a troupe of entertainers playing music and dancing in the street. My fingers itch with the desire to pull out my ocarina and join in. It's not possible of course. Besides being on horseback my arm is also still in a sling. It took us long enough to get here that everything else has healed up but I guess repeated trauma to an area takes its toll after a while. And none of us here are doctors. I can use it if I need to but putting any sort of stress on the joint is still a less than intelligent idea. I've actually been steering my horse with knees to speed up recovery time.

The longer we ride the nicer the town gets, though the streets become quieter and more deserted. It's actually disconcerting, marching through streets lined with gigantic buildings on either side of the road and only few people around.

But the silence only lasts until we get to the castle courtyard.

The courtyard is huge. And super busy. It is like its own special mini city. I guess this is where all the people from the posh end of town are spending their days. There aren't any vendors or merchants which is a little weird but also understandable.

But I think the size of the castle has sent me into shock. It's just… huge. Why would you need a building that big? Honestly. And it's the same white of the walls. How do they keep it so clean? Seriously it defies logic.

We're led over to the stables. A couple of kids a few years younger than me are waiting to take our horses. I managed to slide down with minimal wincing, partly, okay mostly because Ganty lends me a hand. Stupid sling.

After that I lose track of what's going on. I never went to the castle with Talen. There was never any need. This place is huge. I think it's bigger on the inside than it is on the out. And it's almost as white. The carpets are a deep burgundy and the walls have paintings trimmed in gold to break up the blankness of the walls. Vases and other accessories have been placed on tables varying intervals apart. It feels surreal. The doors are all the same dark tones as the drawbridge, creating a harsh contrast.

We pass dozens of them, looping through hallways and walking up stairs, then down the stairs, then we turn here and walk straight there. This place is a maze. I think if it were ever taken over the intruders would have more difficulty finding… well, anything than they did taking over the castle. This place is crazy.

We finally stop in a fancy waiting room. Looking around I realize that we lost a few members of our escort during the expedition here. It's not surprising I missed it. I'll admit that I was gawking like a hic. The castle is almost as amazing as the Great Deku tree.

Almost.


	24. Chapter 24

My crappy day has turned into a crappy week and now I'm chalk full of radioactive isotopes. I'll try to get some more done but I'm also killing time searching for inspiration by watching the Pretender, season 2. So no promises on more chapters before Monday, but I'll try.

***

Alright… so they leave us to rot in the waiting room. I have no idea what we are waiting for. Everyone's being pretty quiet and I don't really know which questions to ask without sounding like an idiot. I start fiddling with my mother's necklace, feeling its shape through my tunic. Yup, the one I got from the Kokiri, all clean and blood free. It might be part of the reason I've been getting so many weird looks. I have to keep reminding myself it's not because I'm Hylian. It's actually pretty weird.

It feels like forever before this little twitchy man comes in. He's a nervous wreck, wringing his hands like they're soppy dish towels and blowing this stray hair that keeps falling across his face. He's definitely older than Talen.

"Alright, alright, line up, line up." Even his voice is nervous and squirrelly. We still do what he says. He seems to be sort of important. He gives Drayfus a customary nod. I guess Drayfus is here often enough. I wonder if Drayfus lives here. Everyone seems to know him. He waves at Jai and the men from Kakoriko. The old guy motions them all off to the side.

"Alright, alright. Most of you are new to this. Here are the rules; when you go in, bow. When you leave, bow. When Her Majesty addresses you, bow." Wait. Hold up. Her Majesty? We're meeting the princess?! "Don't speak unless spoken to. And whenever you are addressed call her Your Majesty or Your Highness. Ready?" HELL NO. "Alright, alright, then off with you."

No no no. Bad. We're meeting the Princess? But- huh? I really didn't think they were just going to throw us at the Princess. This could be bad. We all smell like horse. At least I smell like horse. Ah, well…damn.

We are ushered out of the waiting room into a hallway. By we I mean Ganty Drayfus and I. Crap. Less people to hide behind. Shit. Anyway, we go down another pristine white hallway. I'm expecting it leads to an audience chamber of some sort.

Once again the universe insists on proving me wrong. We step out of the hallway into a garden. A small river runs around the edges and a path cuts through the myriad of flowers. The path leads to a small pavilion. On it sits the Princess. At least I presume she's the Princess. For starters she's about as Hylian as they get with really long wheat blond hair and sapphire blue eyes and a dainty pointy face. She's also wearing this tiara type thing, a chain that wraps around her had with a teardrop jewel made of some purple stone hanging in the centre of her forehead. In her dress she looks like an alabaster doll, fragile and decorative. That and she is surrounded by big burly men who are armed to the teeth. In fact, I but when he worked for Queen Junna, Talen probably-

"LINK!" Can't breathe. No air. World. Going. Dim.

The crushing grip finally eases and I gasp for oxygen. My left arm is pinned in a vice like grip. "By Din what happened to your arm? Are you all right? Were you hurt?"

"Talen?" I blink back tears that should _not_ be forming. He looks so relieved. I think _he's _crying. I caused him so much trouble. "I'm okay Talen. Really I am. My arm is almost healed. I hurt it when I killed Leroi, but he started it. I ended it but he started it." Crap I'm babbling. "But he deserved it. Though I left a mess on Anju's floor. It's cleaned up now. But I'm okay. I'm okay."

Talen pulls me into another hug, this one less crushing than his last. By Farore I missed him.

A delicate cough breaks brings our touchy reunion to an end. Oh yeah… audience with Princess… Riiiight.

I feel my ears go red. Well… that's probably not the best way to make an impression, a good impression anyway. I can see Ganty shooting me an amused smirk out of the corner of her eye. She's going to hassle me about this later, I just know it. Talen doesn't look the least bit embarrassed. He just wraps on of his arms around my shoulders, holing me close to him. Truth be told I'm relieved by the action. It gives me a good excuse as to why I forgot to bow.

The Princess seems… well she doesn't seem offended and I guess at this point that is all I can really hope for. I think one of her guards was the guy who coughed. He's decorated up a little nicer than the other guys. A few more tassels here, a ribbon there, a little shinier breastplate, that sort of thing. He doesn't look old but he doesn't look young. I guess he's got one of those faces that is either forty or fourteen. I'm leaning towards forty. I have a feeling they wouldn't leave the heir to the throne in the hands of teenage boys.

The Princess rises. Ganty and Drayfus both bow. I try to Talen's got too good a hold on me, so I bob my head instead. An amused smile ghosts across her face. That's a good sign.

"We need not stand on ceremony. The matters at hand are too important to be trivialized by social niceties." Oh thank the Goddesses. "Talen, I am glad you are reunited with your son, though I must admit that he is not what I expected." She shoots him an agitated look. I guess he forgot to tell her something about me…

Princess Zelda turns to Drayfus. "Lord Drayfus," Wait. Hold up. He's a lord? No wonder he's so cocky. "I see that you have been more than successful on your mission. Will you be willing to return to Labrynna to continue negotiations with Queen Ambi?"

"Yes Milady." Drayfus crosses his arm in front of his heart and bows deeply.

Then the Princess turns to Ganty and the air turns to stew. "Ganty." Wow, you can hear the ice.

"Zelda." No title. Who the hell is Ganty?!

"I take it as of yet you have been unsuccessful." It's not a question.

Ganty crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow. "I was interrupted. Do you want to hear about it?"

The Princess narrows her eyes. "I wish to hear about why you left the search area."

Ganty hisses. "Yes. That's far more important than the fact that _Lord_," the sneer in her voice is perfect, "Agunim has been running slavers into Labrynna."

Point to Ganty. The princess pales and wilts back into her chair, biting her lip and rubbing her brow with a gloved hand. "Are you certain?"

"Well, the name was dropped between beatings and attempted rapes." I feel Talen's arm squeeze my shoulders. Thanks Ganty. I was just gonna gloss over that but now I guess I don't need to. Thanks.

Though it does cause the Princess to raise a second hand to her head. She sighs, the cold anger leaving her voice like air from a balloon. "Do you know why?"

Ganty holds the contempt in hers. "Apparently he's got a very personal interest in the boy here. Though neither of us know why. You'll have to find that information yourself."

The Princess seems to wilt a bit then seems to regroup, transforming herself back into steel. "Lord Gabranth," the fancy one jumps to attention, "you are in charge of the safety of Talen's son. The boy is not to leave your sight. Have your most trusted men accompany you." She fixes me with a stare. I brush my tongue against my teeth. "What's your name boy?"

Why does everyone keep calling me boy? I am fairly certain that Ganty, the Princess and I are all fairly close in age. "Link."

The Princess nods. "Link, for your safety I must insist that you remain within the castle. It is the only way I have of ensuring your safety. If Lord Agunim wants you then I will not allow him to have you." Wow… I really do seem to be important these days.

Ganty frowns and leans back a bit. "You know something. Spill it Zelda. What is going on?"

Zelda sits as still as a statue. I've seen people do that before. Usually it's to mask some soul wrenching conflict they like to pretend they aren't having. Zelda does not seem to be the exception of to story. It feels like hours before she opens her eyes, though her silence only lasted mere moments. She rises again, this time slowly as though she were an old woman instead of a young maiden. Her voice rings out clearly in the garden alcove.

This should be informative.


	25. Chapter 25

AN- I know I know, suddenly its raining plot. PS. I don't own any LoZ rights.

**

"I have a story for you. Some of you know it, but not all here do so please have patience and listen all the way through.

"When the world was new and without form the three Goddesses descended upon it. They were Din; the Goddess of Power, Nayru; the Goddess of Wisdom and Farore; the Goddess of Courage.

"Din, using her flaming arms churned and created the red soil. Nayru poured her wisdom across the land creating order and law. Life was the born from the soul of Farore to uphold the law.

"When the Goddesses finished they departed from the land and returned to the heavens. A remnant of their journey and of their power was left behind, the golden Triforce, hidden deep within the Sacred Realm. It is said that whomever posses the Triforce posses the power to fulfill they're deepest wish.

"Long ago a man heard this tale and sought the power of the Triforce for himself. But he was an evil man with a dark. He wished to use the power of the Triforce to enslave the world. After much toil he did indeed find the entrance to the Sacred Realm, and eventually he reached the Triforce.

"But the Triforce can only be touched by one with a pure heart. As this evil man grasped the sacred triangle it shattered into three pieces. One of these pieces, the Triforce of Power, embedded itself in the dark man's hand. The second piece, the Triforce of Wisdom, merged with the hand of a Princess who could glimpse the future. The third piece of the Triforce, the Triforce of Courage found it's way to a young man.

"The evil man searched far across the land, wreaking havoc and destruction is his search for the missing pieces. But the young man chosen by the Goddess of Courage went cross the land, collecting the Essences of the world and awakening the power of the Sages. One by one he collected Fire, Forest, Light, Shadow, Spirit and Water. Together with the Sages and the Nayru's Chosen he defeated the evil man, destroying his form and sealing his dark power.

"But nothing is eternal. Over time the seal wanes and is broken and the dark forces are released. But over time the Chosen of the Goddesses are reborn to once again quell the rising darkness. Thus is the cycle of the Hero of Time."

Silence stretches in the garden. It's Drayfus who is willing to finally break it.

"But Milady, that's just a story."

Zelda slowly begins to tug at the glove of her right. We all watch in silence as it slides off with a whisper. She holds her arm, exposing the back of hand. "Is it really?"

Standing out starkly against her pale skin is a golden birthmark. It is in the shape of Triforce with the bottom right piece filled in.

Ganty chimes in. I think she's heard this all before. "But this time we have a problem. The Hero of Time may have been killed before realizing his destiny. I have searched all of Hyrule for him and have found no trace." Her voice softens. "I'm sorry Gabranth but I haven't been able to find your son." The guard nods grimly. He doesn't look hopeful. Poor guy.

"Only Hyrule?" Drayfus sounds skeptical. "Why only Hyrule?"

Ganty cocks her head to one side. "Only Hylians, those who remained closest to the Goddesses in origin can use magic. Therefore the Hero of Time of must be Hylian. Given the current political situation there are not many Hylians out side of Hyrule, and the circumstances under which he went do not leave much hope."

Everyone looks grim. So somehow a giant prophecy is being played out except a bunch of the pieces seem to be missing, to our disadvantage. Nice. But that still leaves me with one giant question.

"How am I involved?"

The Princess shoots Ganty one of those untranslatable feminine looks. I think it's actually a form of telepathy.

Ganty shakes her head. See? Total telepathy.

The Princess folds her hands delicately into her lap and sighs softly. "It is likely that Agunim is attempting to revive the Triforce of Power, the man named Ganondorf through sorcery. But to do so he would need a vessel, a sacrifice out of which to make Ganondorf's new body or perhaps to even have host Ganondorf's spirit." Oooohh, that's creepy. "But not just anyone will do. The vessel must fulfill a very specific list of requirements."

"But how would he be able to find such a vessel?" I can here the frown in Talen's voice. I echo it on my face.

Princess Zelda sits again. "It is likely he used a spell. Link have you experienced anything odd in the past few months? Strange sensations, shadows in the corner of your vision perhaps?"

"Or voices?" I laugh a little harshly. Well, at least it wasn't me going crazy. Oh no, it was only a psychotic mage looking for me so he could donate my body to his "end of the world" fund. Fuck. Just fuck.

Princess Zelda nods. "And with the force he was been pursuing you it seems to be unlikely that he has managed to find a second match. Which means that as long as we have you the resurrection cannot be completed." Wow, being important sucks. "As I have said, Lord Gabranth and his men will guard you. Plus whatever men your father has brought with him." Oh yeah, I guess Talen wouldn't have traveled alone.

"And I will be guarding you as well." The Princess shoots Ganty a withering look. Ganty stares back just as hard. "I owe Link my life. I intend to see that debt paid."

It is Princess Zelda who breaks eye contact first. "Fine. Do what you will. I have other things to attend to. You are dismissed. Lord Gabranth please take them to their quarters."

And with that it is time to leave the garden. Drayfus splits off from us when make it to the hall, but Ganty and Talen both stick close to me. Honestly I'm glad. With everything changing so fast it's nice to have the familiar sticking to me like glue.


	26. Chapter 26

There we go. More stuff. And I used the ruler thingy. Yay. And I totally neglected my homework because of you guys.

* * *

I am trying to find faces in the pattern on the ceiling.

You would think that there would be more for me to do in an enormous castle. You would think that but you would mind blowingly wrong.

Now don't get me wrong, there is a lot of things one can do in a castle this size. Everyone who accompanied Talen from Lynna has been able to find activities to occupy themselves with. O'toole is chumming with guards and the soldiers; swapping stories of idiotic things they've seen while on duty. Teddi has buried himself in one of the many castle libraries, and when he isn't there he is combing the castle for anyone who is willing to show him magic tricks. Talen, when he isn't with me, is acting in the capacity of official Labrynnian diplomat. He's actually had to spend more time doing that than looking after me, much to his dismay.

Dr. Lohan, the last Labrynnian in Castle Town, is probably the most sympathetic to my situation. I was unaware of this but I guess Hylians make him very uncomfortable. He's been keeping to his room, having Teddi smuggle him the occasional book. It's really nice that he was willing to come this far to help find me especially since this place seems to bother him so much. I'm touched by his dedication and honored by his friendship.

But that doesn't change the fact that I am being driven insane by inactivity. I have a giant list of places where it is too dangerous for me to travel. After that list I have another of places where it is too awkward for me to travel. See, with all the brilliant planning that has been put in place to ensure my safety no one thought of a cover story, especially since telling the truth seems to be a non-option. Why would a kid who's never been seen here before show up and require a constant guard made up of the Princess's most trusted men? I have no knowledge of court proceeding, which when combined with my lack of knowledge of basic Hylian politics places me in a category where I cannot even managed to pretend to be someone important enough to require guarding. Passing me off as Talen's son, despite the truth of this arrangement, would create too much political tension. And to pass me off as a nobody would severely compromise the guarding of my body, which is the entire point of my purpose here.

So I am stuck to a limited area. And no matter where I travel in that area guards accompany me. I understand the why quite clearly, so I don't complain out loud about their presence. I am sure they all have places they would rather be so it would be in poor taste to bitch about them trying to keep me whole. That being said this entire arrangement is driving me to madness. There is nothing to do, nowhere to do it, and no place to be alone to think about any of this. The only places where I can find privacy is in my chambers and even then someone comes in every hour or so to make sure I am still here and still alive and well.

The highlight of my days is when either Lord Gabranth or Talen take me to improve my sword skill. Apparently there are as many gardens in this building as there are libraries. A small private one has been commandeered for the purpose of training me. I've had my arm out of the sling for a few weeks now and have been fitted with a shield. I think I'm getting better with it. There were a few times when I almost managed to knock Gabranth over, though I'm still the one who ended up beaten and bruised. But I don't really care. At least it is something to do.

I find a weird frowning face in the swirling lines. I can almost imagine it yelling at me.

"Hey Link." I sit up a flash, my hand fly over my shoulder for my sword handle. Oh crap, I unbuckled it so I could lie on my back. Where did I set it?

"Wow, someone's a little jumpy." Ganty strolls in like she owns the place. "And bored by the looks of things." I wonder what tipped her off. Was it the fact I'm lying on my back on the middle of my floor, or perhaps it's the stack of books Teddi smuggled me, the stack that has been arranged into a sculpture about my height? Or just maybe it was the card tower balanced on the table. Who knows? They are all such subtle signs.

I ease up and drape my elbows across my knees. "Are you here for a purpose or do just get a quick out of taunting me?"

"Oh, you do have some bite." I guess this is the first time Ganty's caught me in a bad mood. She seems amused by the entire situation. Well, I'm not. I think my face making that fact fairly obvious. "And now you're glowering at me. Here I was, trying to save the day, but if you're fine on your own I'll just go."

Now I'm curious. "Wait, I'm sorry. Please?" I'll beg if she can give me something to do.

"That's better." Ganty flashes me a devilish grin. "Now come on. Grab your sword, grab your hat and meet me at the door. Then she whirls out of the room.

Well, something's up. I do as she says and run my fingers through my hair, giving it the good ol' quick brush before donning my hat. I also grab my shield, slinging it across my back over my sheath. My slingshot is in my belt as is my ocarina and my necklace is around my neck. With all my current worldly possessions in tow I go meet Ganty outside my room.

She and the guards are engaged in a staring contest and despite it being two on one odds Ganty seems to be winning. As I come through the door my current bodyguards use it as an excuse to break her gaze. I don't the names of today's pair of watchdogs. Most of these guys are pretty unfriendly and I'm getting to the point where I'm too cranky to hold a civil conversation.

Ganty holds her gaze for a few more seconds then turns to be with a brilliant smile. Her teeth are really nice. Her hair looks really nice today. The berets holding it back are a soft green today. They stand out against the blue black of her hair.

Focus Link.

"Ready to go?" I nod. Ganty flashes another smile.

One of the guards grumbles under his breath. I still hear him. Ganty does too. She pretends she doesn't but I see the stiffness as it forms in her spine. "Fucking humans."

I slowly turn my head, fixing him with my best "you remind me of Lloyd" stare. He looks away first, his gazing going down to his feet. In my best imitation of Ganty I load my voice with contempt and disdain. "She's with me."

"Sorry my Lord." My Lord, I like that. I'm not going to bother to correct him. He keeps his gaze pinned to the ground. I just turn back around to Ganty. She's shooting me with that indecipherable look again. Girls are weird.

We march off (guards included) to wherever it is Ganty has decided to take me. We travel in that awkward silence you get when someone has done bad and been called on it. Once again I am totally baffled by the architecture of the castle. I am beginning to get a little familiar with the small areas I am allowed to traverse, but wherever Ganty is taking me is not in one of those areas.

"Here we are." We finally stop in front of one of those big dark doors. Ganty waves at the door. "Go on in."

I eye her suspiciously before moving to the door. Pushing it open I'm greeted by a giant wave of sound.

"SURPRISE."

I blink. Standing around a table is O'toole, Talen, Teddi, Dr. Lohan, Iya, the twins and Lord Gabranth. They are waving and smiling. Ganty gives me a little push, shoving me the rest of the way through the door.

I stumble a bit. I'm surprised. What the hell is going on?

Talen claps me across the back. "Happy Birthday m'boy."

Oh. Oh yeah.


	27. Chapter 27

They have cake. It has my name on it. Can an evening get any better than that?

Well, maybe it can.

We all spend the night eating and drinking and reminiscing. Everyone has a tale to tell about some of the stupid shit I did as a kid. Apparently I spent a portion of childhood with the deep-rooted belief that I could fly if I could grow a moustache. I don't remember that stage of life and I have no idea how I acquired that idea, but Teddi watered it by telling me about various quick solutions to a lack of facial hair. Everyone is in tears by the time he finishes telling the story, even those who weren't there, like Gabranth.

I think Ganty is cataloguing every tale told. She keeps asking all sorts of questions about my idiocy. Thank the Goddesses she doesn't have any of her own to contribute. At least, that's what I thought. Apparently she was watching when the Kokiri made me play Moblin* on this wood bridge they had running across the pond in town.

"Hey!" I protest as Ganty continues her merciless retelling. "The Kokiri are wily folks. I think even without a tree god they'd still rule their forest in relative peace." Everyone laughs at that.

And so the night passes, with laughing and drinking. I'm a little sad that Gunther and Ameil couldn't be here, and I know Mari has probably closed down the bar for the night so she can have a few toasts. She decided to run the bar for Talen since she figured she slow down the rescue efforts. And she would have. I love Mari dearly but she can't ride a horse to save her life or, as the case may be, mine.

I take a drink for her. I still miss home but it's easy to bear when most of it is in this room.

O'toole is talking with my bodyguards. He's a fairly loquacious guy. That's probably why he's at the bar the most. And believe it or not liquor actually loosens his tongue. Well, the guards have had no one but each other to talk to. They seem to be enjoying themselves. Teddi's sitting on my left and Ganty on my right. Both of them keep rubbing my head. I can't believe they are tag teaming me on my birthday. Scratch that. I guess I should have expected it. They seem to get along as well as Gabranth and Talen. That actually makes me pretty happy. I think I'm closer to Teddi than the rest of Talen's friends. The age gap is less and he's always treated me like a bit of a little brother. I'm glad that Ganty likes him as well.

Dr. Lohan still seems a little weirded out. He's joining in some of the festivities but also is sitting off by himself, wedged into a corner. I feel a little bad for him but at the same time he really needs to get over it. Seriously. Drayfus was wandering around Lynna using magic and wasn't this standoffish. Drayfus is also a bit of a prick. I like him, but he is a prick. But anyway, there is a lot more hostility in Lynna than there is in Hyrule Castle Town. No one will burn Dr. Lohan at the stake for being human. I would not guarantee the same safety to him outside the castle walls, but I would place rupees on how much faster Labrynnians can get a bonfire going.

There are no presents. Apparently they're all in Lynna. Talen feels real guilty about that with me finally coming of age and all, but I don't really care. I'm alive to celebrate this. I survived to adulthood. With everything that is going on there was a real chance that I wouldn't or that if I did I would live to regret it.

But I'm here, alive and in control of my own body. And they do have cake. Life couldn't be sweeter.

Talen has launched into another tale of childhood brilliance. I'm only giving the story half an ear. It's one I've heard quite a few times and I remember it pretty well. It's the first time, and the last, that Mari recruited me into helping her in the kitchen. We were making bread and it went horribly wrong. I think Mari still occasionally finds bits of dough lodged in the ceiling from that little adventure.

I'm jolted out of the memory when Ganty stiffens beside. She looks upset. I straighten beside her, watching her face. She's not paying attention to me. What the hell could have bothered her so badly? I whisper her name, trying to get her attention.

"Mm?" She doesn't even look at me. I have a feeling that I could tell her that an orange elephant wearing her underwear on its head was eating her piece of cake and she wouldn't even hit me.

So I wait in silence while the rest of the room celebrates, watching for signs. I see them, the tightening of the corner of her mouth, the further furrowing of her brows. Then she's on her feet, her chair skittering across the floor and slamming into the wall. Everyone else is eying up the sword in her hand.

That's how we all miss what Ganty saw. A thin inky black tentacle shoots out of nowhere, wrapping itself around her blade. Well, not out of nowhere. My eyes trace the offending … thing to its source, a small dark vortex that has formed in the wall. It is maybe the diameter of a broom handle. Whoops, scratch that. It's getting bigger.

I'm on my feet, hand going for my sword when a second vortex appears with more tentacles squeezing out of it. I've got it in hand with my shield strapped on when a third one appears. Teddi is almost carrying me to the door when a fourth one appears in the ceiling.

"Get him out of here! Now!" Talen's already started hacking of the tentacles.

Well, that is a great to end the evening. And with my luck our new friends want more than cake.

***

* A pig goblin ranging from medium height to tall. They have war pigs. And I love cake.


	28. Chapter 28

I am sent flying through the door by Teddi, hitting the far wall of the hallway hard enough to leave me winded. From the room I hear shouting and cursing and the ringing of steel, so much that it's impossible to know who's saying what. Dr. Lohan stumbles through the doorway. That's for the best. He's a doctor, not a fighter.

Surprisingly one of Lord Gabranth's men emerges as well. It's the young one, the one who lipped off to Ganty. I think I heard Gabranth call him Delaney.

Then Teddi has me by the elbow and is practically hauling me through the corridor. Delaney seems to know where we need to go so we follow him. I manage to shake off Teddi's grip and run on my own, though he stays behind me. Dr. Lohan is covering our rear.

What the hell is going? What in the Sacred Realm were those… things? More importantly, will everyone be all right. I feel guilty about running. I want to be there, helping them. I want to fight beside them. Dammit!

"Dammit!" Delaney echoes my inner thoughts, though for different reasons. I see two vortexes have actually opened in front of us. A black tentacle shoots towards Delaney, who raises his sword to block. It wraps itself around his sword and up Delaney's arms. A second one sneaks itself through Delaney's legs, heading straight towards me. I raise my shield to defend.

Then I'm sent flying back by the collar of my tunic. Teddi steps in front and slams his sword into the tentacle. It lets out this high-pitched squeal and draws itself back into the hole.

"GO!" Delaney yells. He's still caught by the thing but seems unhurt. It just seems to be holding him in place. "Get the boy out of here!" Teddi nods and is once again dragging me down the hallway.

We backtrack until we come to a junction, then Dr. Lohan darts off to the left corridor. We race behind him, Teddi staying slightly behind me, guarding my back. By Din could tonight get any worse?

Well, just because I asked another vortex appears in front of us, blocking the way. I whirl to run again and see that a second one has formed behind us. For Farore's sake! Teddi kicks in a doorway pushing me and Dr. Lohan through.

The door leads to a small library. There is only one entrance. We're trapped. Fuck. I grip my sword tight, slowly spinning to watch for the formation of those portals. I can feel sweat running down my neck. My shoulders are tense. This is so not good.

Teddi watches the doorway, making sure none of those try and sneak it though it. He's got his broadsword at the ready, both hands gripping it comfortably.

"Everyone okay?" Dr. Lohan looks concerned but determined. He's got a knife in his hand, probably from his belt. Teddi nods but doesn't look away from the door.

"Link, you okay?" I just nod, my voice choked with anxiety. I can feel the hairs standing on the back of my neck. Then I'm flying across the room.

"LINK!" I see Teddi turn from the door towards me. Before he manages to take even a step more arms shoot from the roof and embed themselves in the floor, effectively cutting the room in half, myself on one side with Teddi and the doctor on the other.

Teddi starts swinging his sword wildly at the tentacles. They give way easily as his sword just pushes them aside. He moves to step through the gap.

"Teddi, wait!" He doesn't heed my warning. The tentacles tighten the moment he sets his foot on one side, encasing him like a boa constrictor engulfs its prey.

"TEDDI!" I'm running to him when more of these monster vines whip out of the floor. They wrap around my arms, knocking my sword from my hands and using my shield against me, pulling me to the floor. I land hard on my knees and feel more of the tentacles wrap around my legs, anchoring me like a grotesque statue.

Then I hear a soft clapping.

I don't, can't believe my eyes. Dr. Lohan in is the source of the sound, his dagger temporarily retired back to its sheath. One monstrous portal has opened up behind him with hundreds of those wagging tentacles sticking out. But none are attacking him, just framing him as though he's the monster from a bad dream.

Dr. Lohan struts toward me and kneels in front of me. I desperately search his face for some sign that this isn't happening, that he really is the person I thought he was.

He reaches a hand out to rub my face. "Don't worry Link. Lord Agunim is looking forward to finally meeting you." His normally warm voice is now an inferno; one filled with rage and barely suppressed violence. His eyes are chocolate whirlpools, dragging ships down to their doom. And all I can focus on is that he shouldn't know that name. It was only ever mentioned in the room with Zelda. He shouldn't know.

I feel my heart shattering. "Awe, do not look so put out Link." His hand traces the line to my ears. "The fate that awaits is far more glorious than a filthy Hylian like you deserves." He wrenches on the tip the cartilage, twisting and yanking hard enough I cry out in pain. Then he begins to lift up my tunic, tugging the material up past my belt and exposing my skin.

"Get Your Fucking Hands Off Of Him." I have never heard Teddi swear before. It seems like tonight really is the first day of the rest of my life.

Lohan laughs but leaves me alone, releasing the material. He moves towards Teddi, a slow feral movement I didn't think he was capable of. "Or you will do what Winston? Kill me?" Lohan barks out laughter. "You cannot move. How will you plan your way out of this one?" He reaches a hand out and gives Teddi a little push, causing him to spin in his prison, his feet not even touching the ground.

"Larri, you son of a gutter whore. You are betraying everyone. How can you do that and live with yourself?" Teddi's rage matches that of Lohan. I suppose mine will as well when I can finally feel it.

Lohan laughs again. "Betraying? I am not the one aligning myself with Hylian scum! Lord Agunim will cleanse the world of such filth, scouring away those godforsaken monsters. Would you not love to see it? A new clean world?"

"You disgust me."

"I will take that as a no." With that Lohan swings his hand. Teddi's neck blooms like a crimson rose. I can hear him gasping, gurgling. I scream his name as blood pours and spurts through the gaping wound. I can't help him. I can't save him. Why can't I save him?

His body slumps lifelessly to the floor, his glazed eyes focused on mine. It's so surreal, so horrific that it cannot actually exist in this reality.

And then Lohan is blocking my vision, hiding Teddi from me and me from Teddi. He places his hands on the side of my face, tilting it so I meet the voids where I thought my friend lived. The twin holes make a muddy brown swirl. "Hush Link. It will be okay. I am not going to hurt you." He croons softly, as though I am a panicking patient. I don't think he do much more damage to me if he tried.

"You son of a bitch." It's just an emotionless whisper. He pauses for a second.

Then he starts working at my tunic again. I try to twist, to at least hinder his task but all I can move is my head. Lohan pulls a few needles from the medical pouch he always carries, using them to pin my tunic to itself, leaving my chest bare. I wince as one of them piercing into my skin. I hear him cluck his tongue and retract the pin, refastening it with an apology. There is something ironic in that.

He reaches back to his belt, this time pulling on another little pouch. He dabs his fingers into it and they come out inky. Then he begins to doodle on my exposed skin.

The gunk he smears on me is cold. Where it touches me my skin goes numb. Or perhaps I'm already numb. I can't really tell. I don't really care. I don't feel like I'm helpless, I _know_ I'm helpless and that hurts worse. I think I am moving beyond pain. There is just too much going on.

"And that just about does it." I feel him dab my face with his concoction. Then the tentacles holding me move away and I slump lifelessly to the ground, falling heavily on my shield. It doesn't hurt though. I feel a bit like I'm floating. Not the way I do when I'm about to faint. I just feel like I'm genuinely drifting away on the air.

Lohan tsks and mutters. I can't realyl hear him over the sound of the wind, but I do watch as he tugs off my shield and gives it a toss. Then he stands and begins to mutter and wave. Everything begins to change colors. The wind begins to pick up.

"Link." I hear someone whisper my name. It sounds so far away. Maybe it's Teddi. Maybe I'm dying too. I feel a cool hand on hand chest and the wind carries me away.


	29. Chapter 29

Okay... so lots drama seems to rain from the sky where my life is concerned. The reason I am warning you is because it's playing havoc with my writing. But not to worry. I may not update for a bit because I've been super busy trying to get my Anti Drama Umbrella working, but this story will be finished! So just warning you that I haven't forgotten you guys, I've just got some other problems that need handling.

* * *

My mouth tastes sour and the room smells of vomit. That's the first thing I notice before I even bother trying to open my eyes, to move. The stench of my own filth and the weight of my own guilt. I can open my eyes and I don't want. Teddi doesn't have that choice, and whether or not it's direct I am responsible for that.

And because of that responsibility I cannot deny the reality of the situation I am in.

I open my eyes.

Sure enough, I'm partially lying in my own vomit. But other than the mess I made the floor seems to be clean. It's made of white grey stone tile that's staggered together. It's been polished to the point where I can sort of make out the ceiling. And it's pretty cold. Maybe I'm just really cold. I try to roll over but am unsurprised when I can't. This is beginning to become a theme in my life. Besides, whatever that bastard Lohan rubbed on me seems to be nasty nasty shit. So yeah, the bad news basically goes I'm covered in puke and Nayru in all Her infinite knows what, I have no idea where I am, I can't move, I'm cold, and Teddi is dead.

Happy Fucking Birthday to Me.

I hear a low moan behind me. Great, at least I'm not alone. It's so nice that I landed where there is yet another person to kick the shit out of me. Heaven forbid I break that tradition.

I listen to my companion stir. I guess I must have landed on someone when I well, landed. Or arrived, or fell or however the hell I got here. And apparently I hit them hard. It takes a few minutes for him (or her? I can't tell) to really wake up. They moan and groan for a bit while I lie and listening silently. I can't even talk right now. As I said, Nasty Nasty Shit.

Finally I hear him (or her?) get to his feet, his boots clicking on the tile but still stumbling a bit. I brace myself, or imagine myself bracing, as the figure approaches me from behind. If I could have I would have winced when the hands grasped the arm I wasn't lying on.

"Link?" It's Ganty. I don't know how this happened but it's Ganty here with me. I'm not alone. I know she's sharing my danger by being here but I just can't bring myself to wish that she were elsewhere. I'm so glad I'm not alone. I'm so glad it's Ganty and not Mordred.

"Link, are you okay? Link? Link!" I can hear the urgency and panic filling her voice but I can't do anything, I can't give her a sign. I really can't move.

Ganty pulls on my arm and rolls me off of my side and onto my back. The ceiling here is huge. It's an epically tall building. It really resembles a temple, a fancy amazing temple but a temple nonetheless. The roof is a soft gray, almost a light blue.

Much lighter than Ganty's eyes, which seem to be boring into me. She stares for a few seconds and begins fondling my neck. I think she's looking for a pulse. I hope she finds one but at this time I don't think I really have the capacity to be surprised by anything else. When she draws her hand away her eyes reveal nothing of what she did or didn't find.

Then she spits on her sleeve, tearing the fabric of the white shirt off from the shoulder. Ew. She's giving me a spit bath. Well, I guess it is better then my supper but just, ew. She mops off my face, spitting whenever she isn't satisfied with the performance of her makeshift cloth. Then she moves on to my chest, unpinning and pulling down my tunic when she's done. I think I feel a little warmer, but that might just be wishful thinking. I still can't move.

Which is really bad because I hear more footsteps and Ganty is still kneeling over me. I hope she hears them too, but I'm not entirely certain at this point that it would make a huge difference. She's too stubborn to run and as much as I am glad she's here I really don't want to watch anyone else die tonight, especially not for my sake.

Then Ganty is standing over me, her sword drawn and at the ready. "Who are you?" Her voice comes out clear and strong.

The footsteps stop. "Calm child. I am a friend." It sounds like an old man. A very calm, harmless old man. But sounds can be deceiving.

Ganty thinks so too. Her sword doesn't even waver. "Where are we? What do you want?"

"Peace child. I only wish to help. I am Rauru, the Sage of Light, Guardian of the Essence of Light. See?" I can't but I think Ganty does. She sheaths her sword and starts to jibber.

"Please! My friend, I think he's hurt or cursed. Please, can you help? Please." Her voice breaks a bit. Wow Ganty is really upset. And she called me her friend. Awesome. Not that she's upset. The other part.

I hear the footsteps approach. As he draws closer I can hear a soft swishing. I guess he's in a cloak or robe of some sort. Then he bends over to examine me.

This guy has got to be friends with the Great Deku Tree. He's sporting a thick Franz Josef* that wraps up around his face. It's a snowy white in color, which matches his hair, or at least what he has left. He's got a giant bald spot on the very top of his head. He's also a Hylian, with pointy ears and the classic blue eyes.

I can feel his fingertips lightly pressing into my temples. He mutters to himself soundlessly. I can see his lips waggling underneath his moustache. When he's finally done he looks up at Ganty, obscuring my view with his huge moustache.

"He's alive." I guess that's good news. "He also isn't injured. You were right in presuming it to be the work of spell craft. I can aid him but I will require your assistance." Ganty doesn't say anything, so she probably nodded. Unless she shook her head. "Good." I guess she nodded. "I will show you what I need done. But first." He looks down at me again and I am swept up with his dark blue gaze.

"Sleep."

****

My first observation is that my mouth still tastes sour.

The second is that I'm still lying somewhere on my back, but it is no longer on a cold temple floor. The most logical reason for this assumption is the fact that I am warm. At least, my outside is warm. My insides still feel delicately frozen in place and that the slightest thaw will melt everything. I can't deal with a melted everything right now.

So I'll concentrate on figuring out where I am. I twitch my fingers ever so slightly, a movement nigh near invisible to the naked eye, and feel material bunch up beneath them. Thank goodness the Kokiri don't believe in fingered gloves or that would have been a bust.

"Link? Link, are you awake?" I guess Ganty can detect nigh near invisible movements. I open my eyes, blinking away the darkness in the soft light.

"Oh Thank the Goddesses! Link, where do you hurt?"

That's a great question. Where do I hurt? Right now I guess its nowhere. I am too numb for the pain of this fucked up situation to even seep into me. Maybe I'm in anti-pain right now, because I sure as hell don't feel pleasant. I think I injured my shoulder again. It doesn't actually hurt but I do feel a heavy weight in it, like it should hurt but my body just doesn't have the resources to finish sending the message. I'm sure I'll get the message sooner or later, whether or not I want to.

Instead of answering Ganty I look around the room. I'm in a small bed in a tiny humble wooden room. Pale light filters in through s translucent window, one where the glass has been frosted. The only furnishings are the small bed I'm resting and the stool Ganty is sitting on. The bed, and myself as well, is covered in a rough grey blanket that seems to be homemade.

"Link…?" Ganty whispers my name hesitantly, worriedly.

"Teddi's dead." Not what I wanted to say but I guess it will do. I can feel heat gathering at the corners of my eyes. Shit. I don't want to cry in front of Ganty. I don't want to cry, period. It's always an unpleasant experience.

But it looks like what I want doesn't really matter.

I can feel the drops rolling down my face. I start rubbing my eyes with my gloves, hoping to quell the storm I feel gathering inside. "Sorry," I mummer, rubbing harder. It doesn't seem to be stopping. "Sorry." I apologize again.

Ganty catches my wrists and pulls them from my face. I try to put them back, to wipe those damn tears away, but she won't let me. The moment I stop pulling back she lifts me into a hug, rubbing my hair and holding me close.

That sets me off worse. I keep apologizing, but I don't even know what I'm apologizing for anymore. But I can't stop, just like I can't stop sobbing. She rocking me back and forth, whispering quietly but I can't here her over the harshness of my own breath. I can feel the ice on my innards melting. If feels like everything is floating and crashing and the runoff is what is pouring out of my eyes. I feel nauseous. At least the sourness of vomit has been replaced by the salty taste of tears.

Finally I calm down a bit. I managed to stem the flow from my eyes and get my airflow under control. "Ganty?" I whisper when I finally trust myself to speak.

"Yes Link?" she responds just a quietly, still stroking my hair.

"I think I'm gonna be sick."

***

*This is an actual game character. And that is the actual name of the moustache he has. I know… I'm scared too.


	30. Chapter 30

I'm back. I know I know it's been forever. My bad. Here are more chapters. Thats right, with an "s."

**

I'm still lying in the bed in the tiny room, but now I'm on my side. Ganty managed to find a chamber pot under the bed before I got ill again. Then I fell asleep, again.

I feel better. A little bit of sleep can go a long way I guess. I feel more clearheaded than I have in, well, at least few hours. And I feel a bit more relaxed. Plus instead of feeling numb I am beginning to feel angry. Very very angry.

Fucking Lohan. I can't believe he did that. I knew he wasn't a fan of Hylians but I never knew how badly he hated them, us, or where the source of such hatred could come from. And how the hell did he become involved with Agunim? It's not like they could have met randomly while walking down the road one day. How the hell did he pull that stunt of at the castle? What were those creepy tentacle things? How the hell did I get here? Wait, where is here?

I ease myself into a sitting position. Yup, I was right about my shoulder. It's pretty stiff, but not as bad as I thought it would be. I can use it and won't have to stuff it in a sling for a few weeks again. I give everything else a bit of a shake. It feels like I've got a few bruises but nothing too big.

I rise to my feet, just standing tentatively for a few seconds to make sure I didn't miss something. I don't faint, which is definitely a plus. The floor looks hard. And with my luck I'd bang my head on either the bed frame or the stool as I went down and lose a few more hours of my life. And I'd wake up in yet again another location.

Feeling like my feet aren't going to betray me I take a few steps to the door. I'm a little uneasy. I don't know where I am and I seem to be unarmed. My sword and my shield are probably where they were dropped back in Hyrule castle. Wait, my slingshot! I feel around my belt. Sure enough its there and the pouch beside it still feels like it has some seeds in it. I slip a seed into my glove, just in case I need it. The slingshot is loose enough that I'll be able to grab it if anything goes wrong.

And with that I'm ready to face the day, or evening. Whatever.

I slip through the door and find myself in a small kitchenette. Ganty and the old guy, the one with the facial hair, are sitting at a small table. But my brain is more concerned with what is sitting on the table. It smells like and biscuits. It looks like tea and biscuits. My stomach is screaming that it wants tea and biscuits. Instead of helping myself I just stand in the doorway, trying to figure out what is going on.

"Would you like some tea and biscuits?" The old man waves me over to an empty char.

Fuck willpower, I am starving. I gracelessly plunk myself into the seat and stuff a biscuit into my mouth. Oh Goddesses they're warm! I think I need to invent a word to describe how delicious these are. I stuff a second one in my mouth before I even finish swallowing the first. Maybe Yummerific.

"Slow down or you'll be sick again." Ganty sounds amused. I don't care. If I get sick it means I'll have more room to eat these things. They're doughtatistic. Ganty laughs at my enthusiasm. "Looks like somebody's going to make it."

Screw you Ganty, I'm hungry.

The old man chuckles. "Ah, boys have such large appetites. Though I am pleased that you enjoy my cooking Link."

Oh, shit. I'm being rude. I swallow noisily. "Uh, sorry. My name is Link. Thank you for your hospitality." Then I pop another biscuit in my mouth. So good. Mmmmmm.

The old guy laughs. "It is my pleasure, though I must admit I am not used to having guests. It has been awhile since anyone has been here. But that is talk for after breakfast." Whoa, it's morning? Somehow I had gotten it into my head it was closer to night. Ah well, it was a tasty mistake.

They let me eat in peace. The two of them pick up the discussion I must have interrupted. They're talking about gardening. Most of it is, well, just epically boring but I'm fascinated by the fact that Ganty knows about it. I never would have pictured her for having a green thumb. But she could I guess. By the sounds of it she does. It's then I realize that I don't know much at all about Ganty. I really need to fix that.

I finish eating far to soon for my own comfort, but I can't deny it's also my own fault. I should have nibbled instead of scarfed. Awe sadness.

The old man, Rauru, leans back in his chair. It creaks under his weight. He isn't fat but he is by no means slender. He crosses his hands across his generous lap and shoots me penetrating stare. It looks like our pleasant meal is drawing to a close.

"Now, as much as I enjoy your company I would love to discover how you two ended up inside my temple. I am sure that there is a lovely story behind your adventures and I would at least like to know what type of people I find myself in the company of."

Ganty starts with her side of the tale. Rauru doesn't ask any questions, he just leans back and listens thoughtfully. She begins during the party. While we were eating she had felt the hairs on the back of her neck prick up. Looking around she had spotted the growing shadow on the wall. The thing had wrapped itself around her sword, preventing her from following me when I was ejected from the room. She and Talen had struggled against the monsters, but the things disappeared soon after I left. No one knew which direction I had gone so they split up, breaking off into smaller and smaller groups. Ganty had heard me yelling and raced into the room. Apparently the gunk I was covered in had caused me to glow. She grabbed me, not knowing what else to do. They next thing she knew she was here.

Then they're both looking at me, making it my turn. I take a deep breath, easing myself with the knowledge that everyone else should be safe. I just give an outline of what happened after I left the room, on how Delaney got entangled and how we had to leave him. I describe how Teddi and I, Teddi, Lohan and I, got trapped in that little room. After that I go silent.

"Take your time Link." I feel Ganty place her hand on my wrist.

I don't want to do this. I take another deep breath and finger my Mother's necklace.

I really don't want to do this. "One of those … things hit me, sent me flying across the room. A bunch more stretched them selves from ceiling to floor. Teddi..." another deep breath, "Teddi tried to make it to me, but they grabbed him, wrapped him uptight." More deep breathes. "Lohan killed him." My voice is an empty whisper. My fingers ball up on the table, causing the seed in my glove to dig painfully into my skin. I welcome it. At least its tangible, something I can deal with.

Ganty squeezes tighter. "Link, what happened next?"

"I don't really know. Lohan rubbed that crap all over me. Then I was here." I turn to her, my eyes meeting hers. I grab her hand, the one holding my other wrist. "Ganty, Lohan was working for Agunim. He knew the man! Said he had a plan to scour the world, rid it of the Hylian filth." I pull back my heads, resting my head in my palms. "Ganty, he's on the other side. Those portal things were being controlled by him. He was in on it form the beginning." The bastard. The fucking bastard. I sink deeper into my own grip, concentrating as best I can on breathing.

Ganty and Rauru remain silent as I struggle once again to compose myself. It feels like forever before I manage to pull my head from my hands and sit up straight. I can feel them watching me. "M'okay."

I read Ganty's eyes. They're screaming "no you're not" but unless she says it I don't have to deal with that fact.

Rauru leans forward, placing his laced hands on the tables. "This is most disturbing." He thinks for a bit, stroking his Franz Josef. Then he leans back again. "Though I suppose this fits with the times. There are dark days ahead of us. It is a good thing you are here Link." He faces me directly.

"It's an honor to meet you, Hero of Time."


	31. Chapter 31

…

……

………

What?

I see Ganty swivel her head towards me. She quickly turns back to Rauru. "Are you certain?" She sounds… hopeful?

What the hell. Why isn't she laughing at this? Denying it? This doesn't make any sense. Zero sense. Wolfos in pink tutus and green hats would make more sense than this.

Rauru nods. "Indeed I am, child. After all I am the Sage of Light. It is my duty to recognize the Hero of Time and to-"

"Wait a minute! Hold up! Time out!" I am not listening to this anymore. "I am NOT the Hero of Time! That's not possible! Help me out Ganty. Remember what the Princess said? The thing about the mark on the hand?" I rip off my gloves in record time, holding them up so the backs face Ganty and Rauru. "See? No mark. I am not the Hero of Time!"

Ganty turns to Rauru. "He does have a point. He isn't a bearer of the mark of the Triforce."

The Sage just shakes his head. "That is irrelevant. The marks of the Chosens are not always apparent at birth. Just because you do not see it does not mean it is not there."

"You can't use absence to justify existence! This is absurd." Why are all my points landing on deaf ears?

"Yes, how do you know then?" Ganty cocks her head. I think she still might be believing him. Not cool, Ganty. So not cool.

"Come and I will show you." He gets up and starts to head to the door, his orange robe swirling around him as he turns.

Ganty and I both get up to follow. We walk through the door back into the temple. This is my first time catching a good look at it and boy, am I tempted to whistle. This place is huge. The walls are a light blue-gray, the floor white marble tiling. Windows are set high into the walls, just before it melds into the roof. The windows are the same as the one in the bedroom, translucent with pale surreal light filtering through. The entire building feels pale and cold, the only attempt at color a deep red carpet that stretches from one set of doors to another, the ones we seem to be headed for. There seems to be only one set of doors. In fact… I spin around, looking for the entrance we had just come from. There is nothing but wall.

Freaky.

I walk in silence, feeling more than a little unnerved by the way things are transpiring. It feels like forever before we reach the doors Rauru is aiming for. They are made of stone. The only decoration on them is a giant engraving of the Triforce with a smaller engraving with the hole of the sacred symbol, a Triforce within the Triforce. Cute.

Rauru turns to Ganty and I and waves at the door. "It is said that only the Hero of Time may open the door to this chamber and that only he who is chosen by the Goddess may draw the Master Sword."

"Master Sword?" What the hell is that?

Rauru nods. "Yes, the Master Sword. It was a blade forged in the original cycle of time. The Goddesses, all three of them, willed their power into it to help aid the Hero of Time so that he may triumph over evil. It is a blessed blade with many unknown properties. Only the Hero of Time may wield it."

"This is crazy," I shake my head, approaching the door. It's huge and it looks heavy. It looks solid. There isn't even a crack where it would have to split to swing. Whatever. I'll give it a try so they leave me alone about this. "Here I go." I swing my arms to loosen the muscle a bit then go to shove the door.

Instead of finding resistance I stumble, my hands sailing until they come in contact with the floor. I land hard on my knees. "What the hell?" My curse echoes through the tiny room. I spin, looking at the doorway. For the doorway. It seems to have vanished. What the fuck? I run to pound on it, my hands hitting the cold stone as I pummel.

"Ganty?" I yell, hoping she can here me. "Ganty!" I press my ear to the wall and hear absolutely nothing. Ah dammit.

I turn to reexamine the room. It's small, maybe ten feet in diameter and completely circular. There seems to be no way out. One window is the only source of light. It's really high up, maybe fifteen or twenty feet. The light falls dramatically across a sword sitting a raised platform. If I were a betting man I'd place a fortune on it being this 'Master Sword' Rauru was talking about. Ah fuck.

My feet feel like lead as I approach the darn thing. This cannot be happening. My luck cannot be this epically crappy. There is no way this is going down.

I wrap my hand around the grip of the sword and give a little tug. The thing doesn't slide out. It freaking shoots out like it was resting on a spring. I stumble back a few steps from the momentum. All I have time to think is "Oh Shit" and then the rooms dissolves in golden light.

When it reappears it's actually the temple. I'm facing the far entrance, my back to the stone door that doesn't open and Ganty and Rauru are both looking like cats in the cream. They're staring at my hands. I look down.

Holy shit. My left hand is glowing. Well, the back of my left hand. And I feel absolutely nothing. No pain, no heat, nothing. Weird. It doesn't even tingle. I use my teeth to tug off my glove. As soon as the skin hits open air the glow disappears, leaving in its place an outline of the Triforce with the left triangle filled in. Aw shit. This is so not cool.

Rauru smiles. "All hail the Hero of Time."

Ganty cusses softly, "I'll be damned." That's what she thinks. She's not the one holding the magical sword.

"What's going on?" This really isn't making much sense. I refuse to understand this unless someone sits down and explains it to me.


	32. Chapter 32

We're in the kitchen again. I have a cup of refreshing herbal tea in front of me and a magic sword sitting on my lap. I also have another biscuit in my mouth. And, amazingly enough, I still don't feel better.

Ganty and Rauru and shooting each other looks, like they're part of some big conspiracy together. It's making me really uncomfortable. I run my tongue across my teeth. I know they didn't meet until we landed here, so what they hell can they be sharing?

I'm really sick of being left out of the loop. I swallow my tasty bun and get down to the unpleasantness. "All right. Spill it. Explain everything or I am putting this sword back where I got it."

They look at each other. Then Ganty sighs. "Where do you want us to begin?"

"Where am I?"

Ganty is playing the role of the speaker. This is getting weirder by the minute. "This is the Temple of Time."

Okay, "Sooo?" That means absolutely nothing to me.

Ganty sighs and grumbles. "I keep forgetting you aren't Hylian." …'Cause that makes sense. "The Temple of Time is the resting place of the Master Sword." Knew that by now. "But it is also more than that. The Temple of Time acts as a bridge. It was through here that Ganondorf was able to enter the Sacred Realm. But when he touched the Triforce the bridge between the worlds sunk. This place was supposed to be inaccessible except by the will of the Goddesses." Well…crap.

"Okay, so why did we end up here? I'm fairly certain it was not our intended destination. And what was that crap he covered me in?"

Rauru decides to cover this one. "It was a spell component. When you landed here you were under a curse, the purpose of which was to immobilize you. And it is likely you landed here due to some form of divine intervention. If you were carrying an object that held any trace of divine magic at all it is likely that that is what brought you here." Hmm, divine magic. Perhaps magical doodads handed out during naptime count.

I tap my finger as I think about that. I know that they're waiting for a next question. Probably thinking I'm gonna ask a stupid one, something like "Why me?" That sort of shit. But something else is bothering me worse than that. Something that probably had answers.

"Who are you Ganty?"

They both blink at that. "What do you mean, Link?" She eyes me suspiciously.

"What I mean is Who. The Hell. Are You. I'm not stupid Ganty. You can address the Princess of a nation, one who doesn't like you, by her first name. You are borderline rude while talking to a Tree God. The same guys sent after me, the ones who know Agunim, also picked you up. You're involved. How?"

Ganty fixes me with that stare again. I match it with one of my own. I need answers. Ganty finally looks away and chuckles. "Every time I think I have you figured out you surprise me Link." She looks at Rauru who's ignoring her while he sips his tea. Ganty sighs.

"I work for Farore. Yes, Farore the Goddess." I guess I looked skeptical. I wonder why? "Every cycle a guide is born to aid the Hero in his journey. Usually the guide is born close to him, someone that can easily find him just before or as he comes into his destiny. But the cycle is no longer balanced. During Ganadorf's last defeat the man found a way to retain his memories. Of everything. That means that when the final battle begins that the Hero would be at a severe disadvantage. The soul of the Hero is always the same one, like pouring water from one glass to the next and then to another. The shape may be different but the essence is always the same. So Farore incarnated the guide with all the knowledge necessary to aid the Hero in his journey as a means to reconstruct the balance. I'm the guide."

Ah, crap. "So when Zelda said you were searching… you were looking for the Hero of Time." She nods. Damn. "And its some divine plan that we met." Another nod. Crappity crap crap. I don't think I'll be able to get out of this one. Fuck. Fine, I'll do it. It's not like I have much choice in the matter. Sighing I ask the only question that really matters, "Now what?"

Ganty smiles grimly. "We have to find the Sages."

"Let me guess, we have to collect the Essences, like the thing Saria gave you to give to Princess Zelda."

"Yes, that's exactly it. Though some will be more difficult to obtain than others. And Zelda was probably correct in her assessment as to why Agunim is after you. If he had known you were the Hero of Time he would have ordered Lohan to kill you the moment he had the chance."

Lovely. Just lovely. "Anything else you need to tell me?" Ganty tugs a little harder on her hair. "Let me guess. You can't tell me until later." She nods. I sigh. So that line of questioning is a dead end.

"Let me see if I understand. So basically what you are telling me that it is my job to save the world from a guy that needs my body to come back to life but also wants to kill me, and I basically have to wander around, awaken the Sages Princess Zelda spoke about, after all there's what, six of them? Then I'm gonna have to find the guy who's looking for me and kill him or stop him somehow. Without him killing me or using my body to take over the world." The both nod. Great… Just great. "Wow, no pressure."

"Well," Ganty starts, "it's not quite that bad. You only need to find four more sages. Saria and Rauru have both awakened, and you have both their Essences." She digs into her pocket and comes back with two disks suspended on chains. One is golden and the other is green. Great. Only four. Nice. Fuck this.

I lean back in chair. Saying it is one thing. Actually managing to absorb all the information is another. As I lean back I watch Rauru stand. He leaves the room for a few minutes. Ganty and I just sit in silence. I think she can see that I need a little time to absorb this.

When Rauru comes back he's carrying an armload. He drops it on the table. He's got a shield in there as well as two travel packs. He gives me and Ganty evaluating looks. "It will be a long journey. Ready to start?"

Seriously?

Seriously.

Rauru basically handed us the packs and showed us to the door. Apparently he doesn't have enough beds for company. That was the reasoning he provided us with, anyway. So we stepped through the door. Neither of us took into account that since the Temple of Time only really exists in between worlds that the door to the material plane would be magical.

And that it would disappear after we stepped through.

Or we'd land somewhere new.

Somewhere I have never been.

Somewhere like a desert.

My brain glitches. I can feel the disconnection within my own mind, the gap preventing what I see being translated into something I can understand. I thought I was getting desensitized to surprises, especially bad ones.

Apparently not.

I stare at the ocean of golden sand, feeling it staring back at me. "Uh, Ganty…? Please tell me you know how to handle this."

"Shit."

I was afraid of that.

**

And that's where I'll leave you for today. I have more coming when I have a chance but I'm getting behind on my homework so I need to fix that first.


	33. Chapter 33

AN-Sad!. Tried to draw ninja cat here but the formatting won't let me. Sob! Well, enjoy the new chapter

* * *

I blink, trying to reduce the blur in my eyes. It's hard to tell where the blur is coming from, the heat rising off of the desert or the sweat pouring into my face. My styling tunic is not as functional in the desert as it seems to be anywhere else. Or perhaps it is and the desert really is as bloody hot as I think it is. I'd ask Ganty but I think that she'd kill me and use my skin to make herself as an umbrella. She isn't handling the heat well.

She took off her long sleeved shirt, the one she wears under her vest. There was a lot of threatening revenge if turned my head even an inch. I failed to lighten the mood by reminding her that she's seen me naked and jokingly suggested that perhaps it's my turn. Ganty told me that there was a difference because in my case there was nothing to see. One, I was just joking and two, that was harsh. The heat is really making her crabby.

So now she's wearing her just her vest on her torso, revealing arms that well muscled and covered in creamy skin. But you can tell that she earned those muscles. There are a few scars of various shapes and sizes. Her long sleeve shirt is acting as a hat, wrapped around into a make shift turban. I think the fact that it's white it going a long way for her. But I'm not gonna ask. That would mean talking to her. Which seems to be a form of emotional suicide right now.

We march on steadily in the heat. I am really trying to ignore the reality of the situation. Truth be told Ganty is the least of my worries. We are both somewhere in a desert. We only have the water that Rauru gave us. We have no idea where the nearest settlement is, or source of water is, or which direction non-desert lies. And all I know about deserts is that they are hot. And big. And that people who know next to nothing about deserts don't tend to make it out the other side. There is something ironic about the entire situation. Hero of Time survives enemies to be shipped to desert to die by ally.

I seem shimmering ahead of me and sigh. The mirages at least give me something to look as we march. There are no landmarks, no plants and no tracks. Absolutely nothing that could guide us can be found. The only reason we are heading this way is because I told Ganty she was the leader so she had to pick a direction, so spun in a circle and she pointed. Not exactly a method to inspire confidence but I had, have, no better alternatives. Though I did manage to figure out that the shimmer was just an illusion. Part of that was when I turned my head it stayed in front of me, and I am not optimistic enough to presume that we are actually on a tiny island of sand in the ocean. Or pessimistic. That would really suck. Anyway, the rippling horizon at least gives me something to concentrate on besides the heat.

Sighing again I go back to watching my feet. Walking in the sand is actually pretty tricky and I've found that it gets easier if I double check where I am going. It's weird because there are areas where the sand is as slick as ice and others where it is as loose as, well, sand. I've managed to avoid wiping out but Ganty hasn't been so lucky. I think she's got sand in her boots. Mine only contain my feet.

And because I am watching them so closely I bump into Ganty. I really need to quit walking behind her. At least she doesn't injure me the offense. Wait…

"Ganty, what's wrong?" I ask hesitantly.

She turns to me, her blues like flames, "Oh, I don't know. It's not like we're trapped in a desert or anything horrendous like that." Thanks Ganty. Sarcasm greatly appreciated. She runs her hands through her hair, causing the black curtain to float for at least a few seconds. She's staring hard the horizon. "Does that mirage look off to you?"

I put my hand over my eyes, trying to shade some of the glare of the sun while staring hard. That's weird. "It looks like part of it juts forward." Huh. I wonder that means.

Ganty looks to me then looks back to the mirage. She mutters, "no way our luck could be that good." Then she starts running toward to the odd spot.

Ah hell. I trot off after her. It's far too hot to be running. I can feel the weight of my pack adding to my troubles, causing me to slip a bit. It is so hot. I can feel my canteen banging temptingly against my thigh. But I only have so much water. This had better be good. Real good.

I pause for a moment to catch my breath and wipe the sweat from my eyes. Ganty can drop dead of heat stroke if she wants but that's not really how I want this to end. I look up to check on her progress, and then I see what she was talking about.

By the Goddesses! Oh my! Thankyouthankyouthannkyou.

A head of me, of us, lay a speck blue in the golden landscape, a little fleck of hope in this endless desolation. It's an oasis. No wonder Ganty is running.

It's eternity between us and the oasis. One we cross it step by rushed step, the sand only adding to the difficulty of our journey. And then suddenly we're there.

Ganty rushes forward, dropping on her knees by the waters edge. I go a little slower, afraid that it will disappear with my approach. Or maybe the water is poisoned. I dip a hand into its cool depths, getting a little water on the tips of my fingers. I give them a lick. The crisp coolness fills my mouth. It tastes fine. Better then fine. This is too good to be true.

And there's not just water. Giant trees with frills stretch up the sky, providing a lot of shade. In the shade are some smaller trees, a few of which seem to have fruit. A little carpet of spindly grass stretches out in all directions. Well, almost all direction. There is a little part where the grass seems to be worn away. Huh.

I step closer to that area, crouching down, dragging my fingers across the ground. "Ganty, get over here." I hear the crunch of the grass under her feet. " What do you make of this?" I guide her hand to where mine was tracing.

A smile splits her face. "Thanks the Goddesses. They're wheel tracks. This must be on a caravan route." I tilt my head, confused. Ganty jut shakes her head at me. "You are such a city kid." Well, duh. Ganty sighs and tilts back, moving from a crouch to a sitting position. "We're in the desert right?"

"Yes Ganty. I've figured that much out," I can feel the snarl trying to fill voice.

She just shrugs at me. Well at least she's not yelling. "Since deserts are big and dangerous they are very difficult to settle as well as to travel across. They are also difficult to explore. Oasises are necessary to caravans or other travelers because they provide water as well as landmarks. And since there are so few most travelers hit the same ones."

Ah. "So that means it is only a matter if time before we meet with a caravan here." Ganty nods, pleased she doesn't have to totally draw this out for me. Okay… That's good news. "So what should we do until then?"

Ganty looks thoughtful, then shoots me an evil grin.

Ah crap. Maybe I shouldn't have asked.


	34. Chapter 34

I land heavily on my back in the grass, letting the heat washing over me. Wow the sky is blue. I watch it, wishing a cloud would stray across it. I like clouds. I miss clouds.

Ganty and I have been here for at least a week. We've been keeping as much to the shade as we can but we both are turning painful shades of red. Ganty's got it worse than I do. I am _not _taking off my tunic no matter how hot it is. That means I have only burnt my face, neck and the tops of my fingers where they emerge from my gloves. Ganty has added arms and legs to that collection. She is still wearing her long shirt as a hat. She also pinned up her trousers, rolling the legs as high as they could go, somewhere around her mid thigh. She kept her boots on though. She mentioned something about snakes and other predators gathering around the water. I don't if its true or not but I am not removing my boots.

Ganty flops down beside me in the grass, landing on her stomach, folding her hands under her dainty chin. Her silky hair is tucked up into her hat-shirt. I miss it a little but I guess it must be hotter than my blond when exposed to the sun. And it is still there. It's just not visible. We both just lay there, silence stretching out between us. It's nice. Ganty has been trying to fill my brain with history and etiquette this entire time. I feel like my head is ready to explode and not just from the heat.

Ganty is fairly certain we are in the Gerudo Desert. I don't even know if there is another desert on the continent. So going with this she has been trying to teach me how to blend in with the locals. Basically it means a lot of keeping my mouth shut. The Gerudos are a tribe of women and only women. Legend has it that every century or so a male is born into the tribe, but apparently that hasn't happened yet. So basically it means if we do run into a bunch of them they will talk to Ganty and only to Ganty. Anything I say will be either trivial or disrespectful, especially since I am in there territory. And I remember the bruises Sir Rolfus was left in after his encounter, and that was on our soil. They are vicious fighters and renowned for that. If they speak to I need to answer as economically as possible without being rude. All sorts of stuff like that.

But before that really matters we need to be rescued by a caravan. We do have enough supplies to keep us going for quite a while. Rauru filled our packs with dried meats, dried fruits, nuts and some of those tasty rolls I love so much. The rolls are almost gone. They were the only thing in there that would spoil so its best to eat them first. We've also been nibbling on the fruit that grows here. It's pretty good. More importantly it hasn't killed either of us yet. So with our resources we have enough food for probably three weeks, especially if we keep going easy on it. Our water supply is something that the two of us will be able to exhaust, which increases our survival time by another two weeks or so. So if someone finds us within the next month we should make it. Hopefully.

I stretch out a bit under the shade. My gear and my pack are leaned up against the nearest tree, just within arms reach. I am getting pretty diligent about making sure I have some form of weapon near me at all times. I still have my slingshot in my belt. The tall frilly trees (Ganty calls them palm trees) seem to be growing something that might be edible. I am debating about trying to knock them down, but we are also doing really good right now and the last thing I want to do is kill the both of us because of curiosity.

Not that practical concerns like not dying bother Ganty. She has also been trying to make me more combat ready. Combat ready. That even sounds intense. Basically what it means in Ganty has been showing me how to fight hand-to-hand. Basically what that means is Ganty has been throwing me around and down to the ground. So, basically, Ganty's been kicking the shit out of me and calling it training. Though she always is a little easier to talk after she's done. Well, I'm glad it makes her feel better at least. And if truth be told I am learning a little a bit. She's also going easy on me. I saw what she did to the slavers and I have only a few bruises, most of which I received only after opening my mouth.

Which is why I am quite enjoying being quiet right now, listening to Ganty breath. I think this is the first time she's sat still since we got here. She won't admit it but she's pretty anxious. I guess I should be but I don't real think I fully understand the reality of the situation. Ganty is the one who knows what it is that I have to do next. This whole Hero of Time thing still doesn't feel real to me, whereas she's been living it for a long time by the sounds of it. She knows what the next step is, and how many more need to be taken after that. I'm glad that she's resting now, when we both have nothing else to be doing.

Besides, it's far too hot to be doing anything right now. Its noon, or will be soon, and I am not moving from here until it cools off. And if I use less energy I will eat less food. Plus swimming in the only source of water within the Goddesses know how many leagues is probably not the best idea.

Ganty's got the same idea. Her breaths have leveled out with the soft sweetness of sleep. Some of the worry has evaporated from her face, but as I watch I can see her lower lip twitch a bit. I readjust myself, sidling over to the tree, laying my sheath across my lap. I'll keep an eye out for danger. Ganty can use the break.

**

The starts are beautiful tonight, shining like stones resting on midnight cloth. They ripple as the wind dances, leaving its footprints across the water's surface. I huddle deeper into my blanket, trying to fend off the chill of the night as the light breeze tugs at the wisps of my body heat.

I'm sitting by the water, staring at the reflection of the sky. Ganty is asleep. I told her that I would take first watch, but truth be told I'm going to sit up for basically as long as I can and sleep as it warms up. The heat is uncomfortable so I may as well be unconscious through the worst of it. The chill of night, though cold, is still something that is more familiar to me. Plus there is something quiet about the evening, something soothing.

Okay, fine. I'll admit it. I'm still having nightmares and I still don't want anyone to know. If I only sleep for a few hours I'll get enough to live my life without having to wake up in a cold sweat of confusion and fear. And being stuck with no where to go and nothing to really do but worry about a future which could easily be struck down as soon as tomorrow by some unknown desert terror has not been helping my frame of mind at all. The one-week has bled into a second, and a third week is likely to join them soon. The only good new about this is that my hand-to-hand skills are improving. I can knock Ganty down every once in a while so she has been teaching me how to defend against an armed opponent when I am clearly not. I'm actually glad for this. If I had known any of this early I could have saved myself a concussion and maybe strangulation or two.

My etiquette skills are still not improving though. How the hell I am supposed to tell who is more important by the color of the earring in the left ear? Really the whole thing seems pretty inane. It's no wonder Talen left the world of political figures when he had the chance. This stuff is ridiculous and completely lacks rhyme or reason. I really like dealing with people who just act like people. It is so much simpler and it makes a shred of sense most of the time.

And that is part of what is eating me. Could I have known earlier about Lohan? Should I have known? For how long had he been planning to betray me? Were there signs? Was there anything I could have done differently? Was there anything I could have done to save Teddi? And the other thing… Ganty was alone when she found me. Does anyone else know that he betrayed us? Or is he still there, crying with the rest of them over the loss of his "dear friend," carrying on his false facade?

And this whole Hero of Time thing. So now I'm expected to save the world? Really? It just doesn't seem real at all. I'm not that great of a swordsman or I probably wouldn't spend so much time recovering from attacks. I am not the smartest person in the world; I can still only barely remember some of what Ganty keeps telling me. I am not always polite and I am by no means well liked. The corner of the world that I come from seems to be content to hate me. I just don't fit in. And now I have to save it? I really think that that Rauru guy was just blowing smoke. Well I'd like the think that anyway, but my new hand tattoo of the Triforce is making him harder to dismiss.

Personally I think this entire situation is borderline insane. How the heck did the son of barkeep get nominated to be a hero anyway? I'm just not that special.

Ah, I'm getting a headache. I put my knees up and place my head between them. It is going to be a long night.


	35. Chapter 35

I can see a thin trail of sand rising like my heart. It is still far away but it's getting closer. Ganty and I are standing, watching as it draws near. I tap my boot nervously on the ground, first tapping the heel, then the toe, trying to transmit some of my tension to the ground. As excited as I am there is still a very real chance that the thin hope marching towards us is that of our enemy. Though I am vehemently praying to all the Goddesses that it isn't someone out to kill, maim, or sacrifice me there is still a strong possibility, especially when you take past trends into account that is the case.

But I guess I'll find out who they are when they get here.

We stand in the shade for what feels like forever, but is probably only an hour or so, before the figures are within shouting distance. They slow down when they see us, reigning in their horses down to a walk. They must have started running them when they saw the oasis.

One of them splits off from the group, approaching us warily. Ganty moves to meet him, motioning for me to stay put. I appreciate the thought but if things go bad here, I'm fucked. It's not like I can go anywhere, and there are more of them then there are of me. Plus they have horses. But I'll stay back for simplicity's sake. The last thing we need right now is for Ganty to go off on me in front of these people.

The man halts his ride as he sees Ganty approach, forcing her to come closer if she wishes to talk to him. She goes willingly, leaving about five feet of space between them, fingering her sword anxiously.

The man speaks first. Despite the distance I can hear him just fine. "Peace Strangers," he lifts his hands up so that palms face Ganty, "we are but poor carpenters and the only thing of value we carry through these harsh lands is our skill."

Ganty mimics his hand movement. "Peace Stranger. My companion and I have fallen on hard times and the only thing that we would ask for is your hospitality."

The man eyes Ganty nervously. I have a feeling that he has been robbed in the past. He keeps glancing toward me and I keep tapping my foot. Please let this go well. He knits his brows together, thinking hard. "Who are you people?" he asks at last.

Oh dear, we didn't come up with a story. "We are an artisan and bodyguard who were hoping to turn a profit, but unfortunately we hit bad weather and lost everything but our most basic supplies." High-five to Ganty. She's quick on her feet.

The man draws his head back a little. "What type of artisan?"

Ganty looks nervous. I can see her shuffle her feet. I guess she didn't think that far a head.

"I'm a carver," I yell as loud as I can. Ganty turns and shoots me a disbelieving look. I think she thinks I'm lying.

So does the man. "Then why do you have that big sword strapped to your back? If you can use it why do you need a body guard?"

"My Dad taught me to use one as best he could," which is true, "but I've always been better with smaller blades and this is the farthest I've ever been from home," which could very well be true. I'd need a map to be certain. "I thought it wise to bring someone more worldly with me. She's kept me alive so far but we've run into problems that even she can't fix," which is most definitely true.

The man thinks about that for a few minutes. Ganty is glaring daggers at me whenever she glances this way. Finally the man seems to make a decision is his head, at least I think that's why he is nodding to himself. "Well Miss," he's talking to Ganty again, "we don't have much to share but we can take you and your friend to the Gerudo Fortress with us." Yes! Hurray! That little corner of my brain is dancing with joy and relief.

She eyes him a bit suspiciously. "We have no money."

He shrugs. "Well, the Goddesses would think poor of me if I were to leave you here to die in the desert out of avarice." He lets a huge grin split his face. He twists in his saddle and waves to the troupe behind him. "S'OKAY!" he bellows. Ganty cringes a bit from the noise, but the guy's horse doesn't even flinch.

Ganty walks back with the man on the horse, flashing me meaningful looks whenever our eyes meet. I wonder if she is remembering the poisoning instance. Well, if she is she should very well remember that not only did it work but it also saved the day.

When the man and his companions finish gathering I am surprised to see that are fewer of them than I expected. There are only five of them. The man looks to be the oldest. He is obviously getting on in the years. He is completely bald and has pure white eyebrows and small trimmed moustache that matches.

He holds out his hand. "The name's Mutoh." I shake his beefy mitt, hiding a wince from his strong grip. Ganty shows no pain as he repeats the gesture to her. He then goes on to introduce his companions. "These are my lazy, useless sons." He smacks them in the shoulder ever time he gives one of their names. Ah, family love. "This here is Shiro," smack, "this is Jiro," smack, "this is Ichiro," smack, "and this lazy bastard is Sabooru."

He introduces the last son tenderly, a fatherly smile sucking all the bite out of the words and the smack more of a friendly pat.

Okay. Three of his sons all look the same. They all have big brown moustaches and wild brown hair undergoing various states of baldness. They are all heavy built, like their father, and are all about the same height. They look to be somewhere in their late twenties early thirties, but there is really no way to tell. They all look so similar. There is no way I am going to be able to tell them apart. Maybe they're triplets or something.

At least Sabooru is easily recognizable. He's a lot younger than the others, maybe only a few years older than me. He's got a light build and a light step. His hair is a reddish brown and hangs cropped just above his chin. He is sporting a skimpy beard, one that is full of fuzz and patches. He seems to be a timid fellow. He also looks really familiar.

"Well, I'm Ganty and this here is Link. It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance and your timing could not have been more fortuitous. We are beginning to run low on supplies." Ganty bows deeply, causing one of the shirtsleeves to come loose and fall in front of her face.

Mutoh just lets out a belly laugh. "Very lucky indeed. We almost didn't make this trip, trouble at home and all that. But I decided these lazy kids needed a proper education." He then turns his head to me. "Maybe, with luck, they'll turn out like you young man. Now tell me, what is it that you can carve?"

Ganty pales at my side. The look she is wearing is one of pure panic.

I just shrug. "What type of knives do you have?"


	36. Chapter 36

No reviews? Really? That makes me really sad… Even if you are harping on me for being dumb it lets me know that at least people are reading…

***

So far I have carved a fox, a puppy, an eagle and a keese. Mutoh had a few knives he's been willing to lend me as well as a little scrap wood that was being packed around by the horses (which they had more of than people, lucky for us). He seems genuinely impressed by the small figurines I've been turning out. I'm pretty pleased with them as well. It has been a while since I've had the opportunity to practice.

I told Mutoh he could have them all, all save the fox. It's for Teddi. I promised myself I'd make one for him. I'll just have to hold on to it until I can find out where he was buried. Maybe I can find someone to paint it or stain it for me. My expertise ends after the wood has form.

I want to get a few more figurines made before we make it to Gerudo Fortress, which is actually only partially made of fortress. Apparently it's a city and the castle has been carved out of a plateau in the area. Apparently that's half the reason why there is a city to begin with. The natural wall protects the city from the sun for most of the day as well as from sandstorms. Apparently with enough wind sand can kill. Ganty and I were really lucky we didn't get caught in one in our two and a half week campout at the oasis.

The other half is that they managed to find some water in the area as well. The wells they dig don't have to be that deep to underground tributaries that feed into a river. A river that helps keep the city well defended. The river has formed a canyon between the city and most of the desert. We're actually on the wrong side of said canyon and will have to cross it at some point, and actually some point fairly soon. Mutoh says we are getting really close to the city and should be there in only another day or two. He also says that crossing the canyon is the only way to get to the city. In front of it is a well-built wall, and on the other side is uncrossable desert. Only the Gerudos, and even then only a very select few with extensive training and a great deal of purpose, are able to cross. Any one else is welcome to try if they wish to cross over to the after life prematurely, but only the Gerudos know what lies out there and only the Gerudos have ever made it back, and even then, some of them don't. So it's across the canyon for us.

Traveling with the carpenters has actually been fairly amusing. They're all human, but no one has bothered to point out that I'm a Hylian so I'm thinking that they might actually be from Kakoriko and area. That or they travel enough to have gotten over any prejudice they may or may not have had. Anyway, they are a chatty group, well all except Sabooru, who has remained near silent silence we joined the party. The other sons are always whining and whinging about how hard they have it, having to cross the desert just to build stuff. Then one of them takes it too far or his voice squeaks to high and Mutoh starts yelling at the lot of them. Then everyone is silent for a bit, conversation about safe issues is tentatively raised, which then eventually gets back to how hard done by they are and Mutoh goes off on them again. From an outside perspective, a perspective that has been trapped in the desert with Ganty for the better part of a month, this is absolutely hysterical. I can see where it would get frustrating after a while, but until then I am going to enjoy this as thoroughly as possible for as long as I can.

"Hey Link," Ganty rides her horse up close to me. She's been pretty chatty since we were rescued. I think how much Ganty is willing to say is directly correlated with her mood.

"Hey Ganty," I chirp cheerfully. I am in a really good mood. No one has tried to kill for a while and my chances of just dropping dead in the desert have vastly decreased. It's a great day.

"Any requests?" I hold up the blank block of wood in my hand, letting her see it a little bit better.

She just shakes her head, smiling a little. Her mood has improved as well from the same things as mine, plus Mutoh gave her a cloak to wear so she would quit boiling to death. "No tokens for me. Right now all I wish to claim is your company."

I set the block aside and flash Ganty a smile. "I'm sure I could give a few minutes to a lady as charming as yourself."

Ganty laughs despite herself. It sounds like bells being rung by fairies. It's a sweet sound. I wish I could hear it more often. Well, at least she let her hair down. "Why sir," she opens her eyes wide in an appearance of comical innocence, "flattery will get no where."

I can't help grinning. "Alright, so what is it that brings you to my corner of the world?"

Ganty shrugs her shoulders. "I was just wondering how you like the desert. Its one of my favorite places."

Whoa, I missed something. I tilt my head to one side. "You've been here before?"

Ganty nods a little distantly, like she is having a grand time playing around in he own memories. "Yes, a while ago. As I said, it's one of my favorite places."

I know I'm missing something. "I had thought you never left Hyrule until shortly before we met?" The Princess had said something to that affect in the throne room, I'm sure of it.

Ganty shook her head. "No, I only confined myself to Hyrule after the Hero of Time was said to be in Hyrule. Before that I was free to go where I wished to."

Huh. Something is off about the timeline I had constructed in my head. Ah well I probably missed something. But since Ganty is talking about herself… "Where is it that you grew up?"

Ganty just shakes her head. "I didn't."

I blink. That didn't make much sense. "Excuse me?" I must have misunderstood.

Ganty pulls herself out of whatever flashback she was having to laugh again. It sounds a little forced. "I'm sorry. What I meant was that I didn't grow up in any specific place. I traveled a lot when I was younger." Oh, okay. That makes a lot more sense. "In fact I've been to most of the places a person can go in these lands. I've seen my fair share of sights, including the ocean. When this is all done we should go."

"To the ocean?"

Ganty nods seriously. "Yes. It's beautiful. I've always wanted to share that sight with…" Ganty just trails off awkwardly.

"With a friend?" She flushes and mutters. I hold up a hand to wave off her excuses. "I heard you tell Rauru that I was your friend." Her cheeks glow a little brighter. I turn my face serious. "Ganty, I am honored by your friendship and I would love to go see the ocean with you."

The grin that split her face fills my heart with light. It has been a great day indeed.


	37. Chapter 37

AN-Confession, I was watching the second Bill & Ted movie when I wrote this chapter.

**

I never used to have a problem with heights. I was always fine with having to clamber up to help repair the roof after the latest storm tore through Lynna or scramble up a tree to retrieve whatever Lloyd and his minions decided to toss up there. I never used to have a problem with heights.

"Used to" being the key phrase. I'm pretty sure I have one now. I guess that's what happens when you have to cross a gorge that is deeper than the Great Deku Tree is tall. The roar of the river below can actually be heard from the top of the gorge, and the mist that rises from the waterfall can actually be felt on the skin, like little fairy kisses. As much as a beautiful and romantic image the entire scene sets it leaves us with a couple of very practical problems.

The first is the bridge is wet. A wet wood bridge equals a slippery wood bridge, especially since it was varnished in order to prevent the wood from rotting away. When I mentioned this Ganty pointed out that at least it wasn't a rickety rope bridge, the type you always hear about in heroic stories where the bridge actually dissolves under the protagonist's feet.

Personally I don't think it really matters. Either way we would be pretty fucked. This is because of problem two. The bridge doesn't have rails. There are no wooden guards to prevent people from sliding off, not even rope to help people balance themselves. Oh no, crossing this bridge is a test where failure equals death. It really is a line of defense for the city. There is no way an army would be able to make it across. We are going to have problems and we are just on horses and have only a few pack animals that we have to get across. I can't imagine pulling a cart across. The bridge isn't exactly narrow but without rails and with the wood being as slippery as it is I don't think that you could get a wagon across it. If your horse spooked it would be all over. Apparently this river eventually feeds into Lake Hylia. I wonder how much stuff from this crossing gets washed up on the lake's shores.

Well, as long as I don't, that's the main thing. I'd bet that falling from this height into the river would kill you, never mind whether or not you can swim.

Which is why I now have a fear of heights. I'm about halfway across this bridge and am hoping that Mutoh can hold off yelling at his sons until I at the very least get across. The horse I'm leading can tell that I feel nervous which is adding to its skittishness. It isn't happy about having to cross this bridge either. The good news is I'm the second last person to cross which means that this nightmare is almost over. Ganty led her horse and one of the pack animals across without breaking a sweat. That girl impresses me.

And there! I feel the hard ground under the soles of my boots and have never been happier to do so. Thank you Goddesses! Thank you! Hurray for not falling! I run the last few steps toward the group, feeling a bit giddy as I do. I am ignoring the fact that I am going to have to cross this thing again in order to leave. I can see the look Ganty is giving me. I must be pretty pale. She is going to give me grief about this later.

Ah well, there is nothing for it. I turn my head so I can watch the last person cross. It's Sabooru who was left for last. He's looking pretty shaky. I wouldn't be surprised if the reason he's last was because he was trying to put this off for as long as possible. I can't say I blame him. After all only Ganty and Mutoh had ever been to the desert before so the rest of use are still in varying degrees of shock, or where the "-iros" are concerned, varying degrees of dismay.

We all watch silently as he crosses. No one wants to distract anyone. Despite Ganty's "it could be worse" speech even she recognizes how bad this _could_ be. Just because it could be worse doesn't mean it isn't already bad.

Sabooru is halfway across the bridge when things start to go wrong. And when they go wrong, _they go wrong._ The horse takes a false step, slipping on the planks and stumbling forward. It knocks into Sabooru, sending him sliding straight towards to the edge.

Not even thinking I race forward, sliding on my stomach across the bridge toward where Sabooru is going over. His eyes lock on mine.

By Farore, I'm about to die by falling off a bridge. I never would have thought that this would be the way I go. I had always thought that I would be killed by Lloyd or Jan or something stupid like that, or maybe that I'd get wiped out the plague or something. I always thought that, well, when I died I'd be taken out by something local. Yet here I am.

I clasp his hand and we both go over.

I swear in pain as my body is stretched into, my fingers on the one hand digging the rope holding the planks together. Stupid Link. Stupid stupid stupid Link! What the hell am I doing? Well, besides dangling from a bridge miles above a raging river. This is not the brightest decision I've made.

"Eek!" Sabooru squeaks more than he screams. He's holding on to my hand with both of his and kicking and with all his might.

"Hold still! Sabooru, calm down and hold still!" Every time he wiggles I can feel my grip on the bridge slip a bit. I am definitely going to have an issue with heights before this is done.

He squeaks again but listens to what I say. Well, that's one problem down. Now how the fuck am I going to get us up?

"Link hold on!" I listen to Ganty yell a bit hysterically.

"Well I wasn't planning on letting go!" I snap irritably. Sabooru kicks again. "I said stop that!" I snark down at him. He quits his wiggling again. This hurts. A lot. My body was not built to withstand this type of pressure. My bad shoulder is screaming at me, and all its holding up is Sabooru.

I can feel the vibration in the wood as people approach. I look up and Ganty's face appears above me. A rope snakes down toward us. "Grab the rope and we'll pull you up!"

Okay, slight problem. I'm holding onto Sabooru and myself. I don't have a third hand to grab the rope. Ah hell.

"Sabooru, grab the rope as it comes down to you okay?" He just gives me a frightened nod accompanied by another strangled cry. The rope ekes down past me. I can see the loop in it as it slides downward. I watch as Sabooru catches the rope with his free hand, slipping his feet into the loop. I look back towards Ganty. "You guys ready?" Ganty gives a terse nod, which I pass down to Sabooru. He takes a deep breath and lets go.

The tension in my arms immediately lessens. I swing my now free hand up to grab the bridge. Sabooru swings over a bit, okay, well; by a bit I mean a lot. I wince in sympathy as he slams into the cliff wall. He cries out again but doesn't let go. Slowly he is pulled upwards.

So he's safe. Now it's my turn. I grit my teeth as I try to haul myself upwards. It's not working so hot. Every time my weight shifts so does my grip. Ah fuck. What to do?

"I got you!" I feel Ganty's hands on wrists. I look up. She's sitting on her butt with her heels braced against the rope I'm holding onto, giving herself some traction so she can pull me up without sliding down. Clever. Thank the Goddesses she's clever. Ganty begins to pull, and I switch my grip from the rope to her hands. I hiss every time the planks snag my tunic, every time Ganty adjusts her grip and every time my hands slip.

Then finally its over and I am sprawled on top of Ganty, breathing hard and sending out mental thanks to the heavens.

"Link?" It comes out a bit of a croak.

"Yes, Ganty?"

"Get off of me."

I give it a solid try. "Sorry Ganty. I need a minute."

"I am going to throw you off a bridge."

"Yes Ganty."

"Link?" She still sounds breathless.

"Yes Ganty?" I'm still panting.

"Don't ever do that again."

"Yes Ganty."

I crawl across the bridge, not willing to stand up until my feet, and my hands, reach good solid earth. Then I collapse again, just lying on my back as the adrenaline continues to pump through me.

"By Din! Are you okay boy?!" Mutoh's face fills my view. I just flash him a thumbs up, then let my arm fall back down to the ground.

"You had better be okay! If you had gotten yourself killed! You idiot!" I guess Ganty has made off the bridge as well. "I ought to tie to you to a horse! Why the hell am I your bodyguard if you do stupid stunts that prevent me from GUARDING YOUR BODY!" She seems a bit upset. She's lapsed into incoherent spluttering. The only word I can really catch is "idiot" though it comes up quite a few times. I think the only reason she isn't saying more is because we have an audience.

Ignoring Ganty I sit up and look around. The "-iros" are huddling around their youngest brother, cradling him and whispering comforts.

I flick my head in that direction. "He okay?"

Mutoh nods. "Thanks to you, kid. You're Goddess sent. If we hadn't found you at the Oasis…" He shoots his son a tender look, one that reminds me of the way Talen was looking at me in Hyrule Castle. Mutoh holds it for a few seconds then shakes himself out of it, remembering he has an audience. "Well, anyway. Thank you for saving his life."

I shrug. "You saved mine first." I go to stand, using my arms to get up. OW! Fuck, ow, that hurts. Not trying that again!

"Link, what's wrong?" Ganty face fills my vision. She's leaning in real close. Way too close. She smells kind of nice.

Focus Link! I rotate my shoulder, once again wincing. Sighing I explain, "I think I hurt my shoulder… again." Ganty grabs my arm, reefing on it. "FUCKING ARGH!"

She nods, satisfied about something, but I am not sure what. Maybe she has been wanting to hurt me for a while. "Well, it's only twisted." Before or after she wrenched on it? She hauls me up to my feet by my other arm, Thank Nayru. Then she pats me hard on my back. On my shoulder. On my bad shoulder.

I'm on my knees again, blinking through tears and biting the inside of my tongue to keep from crying out. I feel Ganty's hand on my chin and she tilts my face so it's looking directly at hers, which is currently sporting a smile that is far too sweet to be innocent.

"Li~nk," she sings my name eerily sweet. "oh Li~nk, if you ever do something that stupid again I will make you re~gret it." Her eyes flash with emphasis and then she lets me go. She marches off in a rising dust cloud.

Mutoh helps me up and gives me a wink. "Women, eh?"

I watch Ganty go and help tend to Sabooru, crooning softly with his every wince and gently wrapping his wounds.

Women. I'm not sure I even want to understand.

***

Here ends part one of A Single Snow Flake. I just want to break it up a bit because of how long it looks like it is going to be and I don't want to hack it up in the middle of a plot arc. But my chapters are short so there is that.

On a personal note, sorry it's been so long between updates. I didn't sleep last week. As in didn't sleep, at all. So I'll try to be more on the ball but real life keeps harshing my mellow if you know what I mean.


End file.
